For The Love Of Port

The Symington family is pleased to announce our decision to declare 2016 as a Vintage Port year. This is only the fourth Vintage declaration for all our Port companies since 2000 and the first since the magnificent 2011’s. Few wine regions anywhere restrict Vintage Years with such meticulous care an...

Dominic, Thanks again for answering my questions so graciously. I hope none of my questions came off the wrong way. I would also like to congratulate you and everyone at SFE for the honors bestowed by Wine Spectator. We always talk about how the Douro table wines don't get the recognition they dese...

Dominic, Conrad Bodnar here from Western Canada. We have met only once when you were a most gracious host to the 2010 Harvest Tour at Vesuvio. It seems as though the hard work and passion your family has for what it does continues to pay dividends as seen in the recent awards. Congratulations. I do...

Dominic, Thank you very much for being with us this week. The questions posed and your answers have been entertaining reading. It is inspiring for people like us that someone so involved and highly regarded in the trade would take the time to answer our questions and interact with us. One last ques...

Dear Dominic: It was fantastic to follow this guest corner over the last days. So interesting - thanks for taking so much time to answer all the questions. Next weekend is my daughter's 18th birthday - and I will open a few bottles of the 1996 Quinta do Bomfim. For Christmas I plan to open the fant...

Tonight in Edmonton, we had a horizontal of 2011 Vintage Ports and it was fun to revisit the Dow which was incredible, as well as the Graham's and Warre's amongst a half dozen others. Having the Dow on the same day as it received #1 was fun and timely, but proved to a group of 18 why this Port was ...

Hi Dominic, Thanks for joining us this week. It has been insightful and educational to read through all of your answers. Congratulations on the Wine Spectator results. It's a great vindication of the effort and attention to detail that SFE puts into it's portfolio. It must be extra pleasing that yo...

Eric, Brian & Bradley, thank you very much indeed for your comments, a great day for the Douro. I very much agree, I sincerely hope that this will now open the doors to the recognition Douro wines deserve. I've in fact just got of the phone with Xito Olazabal of Vale Meão and he wa saying exactl...

Hello Dominic, Thanks so much for replying to my earlier question, and for all your generous responses. I have one more area I was hoping you would comment on. For me, whenever we do horizontal tastings of a given Port vintage, I find the Warre's to be elegant (in a good way) and in some ways more ...

It is in a great place at the moment. It just came out and it's already in a good place??? Will it surpass the '94, or how about classics like '63 and '70? Moses, I think it has all the potential to do exactly that! Roy, Thank you for your extremely generous words. I'll be returning to the Guest Pa...

Shame on me, but I don't read the Wine Spectator anymore. With #1, 3 and 4 going to SFE and Qta Vale Meão, who snuck in at #2? The #1 spot has not gone to a Port wine since 1997, when a few 1994 Vintage Ports shared the top spot. So this is really significant. I may just have to seek out a copy of ...

Congratulations to you, your family, and everyone else in the company for taking the top spot in Wine Spectator's top 100 wines of the year. 2011 Dow's VP [notworthy.gif] :thumbsup: Agreed, congratulations! :clap: That's a fantastic achievement for Dow, SFE, and Port wine in general. We here on FTL...

Dom, Peter Reutter posted a question in the Madeira forum, which I've copied and posted here for you. Since I heard that we have an expert guest in the forums this week, I would like to post a rather exotic question to Dominic. I do understand that the knowledge about this specific wine might be mi...

Hi Dominic I have enjoyed many fine wines from the Symington Family estate portfolio over the years and look forward to many more. I am with the American Wine Society and would love to have a representative help educate our members on your family of Port wines. Our 2014 conference just concluded bu...

Dominic, I went to visit Cockburn's lodges in September by curiosity. The host spoke about the possibility to release old tawnies/colheita in a near future to celebrate the 200th anniversary. Can you give us information about this yet? I'm sorry but we don't have any plans to release some Old Tawny...

Hi Dom, Thanks for all the inside scoop! A few years ago I ran across this quote from Pedro Branco of Quinta do Portal: “The benefício is a bit of paper that gives a producer the right to add brandy to must, and therefore make Port. Every year you receive a letter telling you how much Port you can ...

Dear Dominic Thanks for your answers so far. I have another question. SFE recently bought Cockburns, Fladgates Krohns. And then we have Sogevinus and Sogrape with all their brands. Looking into the future, do you think that this will continue? A few companies with a lot of different brands (and doi...

Dear Dom; Thanks for the great insightful reply about LBVs--your answers were magnificent. A couple of follow up questions if you don't mind... 1. Why not make more traditional LBVs? Is it a balance thing as you want to offer both choices amongst your portfolio of brands? I notice too with the Warr...

Hi Dom, Yesterday I read an article about how Bordeaux prices in China, and thus world wide, have plummeted recently as they have largely lost interest in the wines. There was a lot of chatter in the news and within the trade regarding Port and Portuguese wines being sold there, and other Asian mar...

Hello Dominic, My son was born in 2005 and although not a generally declared vintage, I did stock up on a few 2005 ports for him (especially the Vesuvio). I was wondering what your thoughts were of that vintage and how you think it will evolve. Also, I hear there will be a "old vines" ver...