Symington Family Estates 2011 Vintage Port tasting and pre-release pricing

WINE TALK
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Last Thursday, I attended the Symington Family Estates 2011 Tasting in San Francisco and met up with FTLOP’s Andy Velebil. The event was held in conjunction with Premium Port Wine company and hosted by Rupert, Dominic and Charles Symington along with Rui Ribeiro, The Symington’s new Brand Manager for the USA.

In addition to the formal sit down tutored tasting of 2011’s which I’ll recount shortly, we had the opportunity to taste glasses of 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio, 1970 Warre’s, 1966 Graham’s, 1963 Dow’s and 1955 Cockburn’s.

The informational part of the seminar was exraordinarily detailed and we all learned a lot about the newest Ports which will be bottled during the next month. The cask samples before us were specifically put in bottle a month ago in anticipation of this tour of the USA, which included NY, DC, Chicago and finished off in San Francisco yesterday. It was great to see the members of the family and meet Rui, along with an opPORTunity to try these early cask samples, the first to be shown to the trade within the USA.

I asked a question of the panel, re: the prices ex-cellars into the USA of the 2011s. It should be noted that the Symington Family Estates own their import company (since the 1980s), Premium Port Wines, which does a fantastic job with the majority of the SFE Port holdings, while Vineyard Brands imports a couple as well. Rupert Symington answered my question explaining the prices sent to the USA were identical to the pre-release prices of the 2003 Vintage Ports. Given that VAT, sales and income taxes in Portugal have risen to levels never even dreamed of back in 2003 – the Symingtons have gone out of their way to maintain reasonable pre-release prices on the 2011s, post economic collapse that took place just a year before 2007 Vintage Ports were released. I applaud the Symingtons for keeping their prices in check, albeit Rupert did speculate that by the time the bottles showed up on our shores (USA) that prices are likely to rise sharply, possibly even by as much as 50% from where pre-release pricing is at today. Smart wine distributors around the USA as well as retailers and key on-premise accounts shuold buy in early, as allocations are tiny, as noted by the incredibly diminutive case quantities produced in 2011.

Overall, in comparison to cask samples I’ve been fortunate to try over the past two decades, the 2011’s may just be the most deeply extracted. They exhibit dark purplish-inky colors compared to any that I can remember. To be fair, I’ve only just tasted the SFE 2011’s so far, but it should be empasized how dark these really are and … generalizing for the moment … their 2011 Vintage Ports are every bit as concentrated flavor wise too!

Now for the 2011 lineup and my snap shot impressions. I did not bother to score these Ports as they’re just still so young and tomorrow, no less a month or three down the road, these will likely show very differently, and I’d rather wait, (out of respect for the Ports) before rating them numerically. I plan to spend time in Portugal next month when Port companies will have had their cask sample submissions in to the IVDP and approved, or not. Of course I will be visiting properties in June, July, September and October before finalizing my comprehensive report on the vintage, with final scores derived from a compendium of tastins, once I’ve experienced enough cask samples and finished bottles over the next six months.

In order of tasting – all case quantities mentioned are for 12 x 750 ml bottles and do not include any 375 ml or large formats produced. Please note, these are just snapshot impressions:

2011 Cockburn’s Vintage Port - 3,000 cs. produced
Fresh floral fragrances that are beautiful at this young moment in time, lifted by minty overtones. Medium weight, fleshy and concentrated dark berry flavors with ripe, powerful tannins and a soft persistent finish.

2011 Warre’s Vintage Port - 3,000 cs. produced
Mineral driven notes accompanied by dark tea and eucalyptus scents. Bold, rich black and purple fruits with gobs of glycerin that coat the glass, supported by grippy tannins and good length.

2011 Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port - 1,250 cs. produced
A smoky impression with intense violet and mineral laden aromas that dominate the nose. Incredibly rich, smooth and pure grape essence, with a mocha backdrop and noticably vibrant acidity. Another excellent Vesuvio.

2011 Dow’s Vintage Port - 5,000 cs. produced
For those that enjoy the drier side of the spectrum, the 2011 Dow will be your happy place. Fragrant, lean and muscular with amazing overall balance, focus and black fruits that dominate the landscape. A remarkable effort and my favorite of all tasted today. The proverbial “iron fist.”

2011 Graham’s Vintage Port - 8,000 cs. produced
Dark brooding inky juice that is stuffed with plum and chocolate both on the nose and palate. Medium sweet and gorgeous refined underlying tannic structure. A great Graham’s VP!

2011 Quinta do Vesuvio Capela Vintage Port - 200 cs. produced … yes … for the whole world
A micro-vinification that exudes the terroir of two small parcels that comprise the backbone of this youngster. Filled with fragrant lavender and herbal scents that marry well with brash briar patch fruit and some green tannins and good length. Slightly awkward at this sitting, I will be interested to see how this fleshes out, but the potential is strong.

2011 Graham’s Stone Terraces Vintage Port - 250 cs. producedAt least at this point in its youth, I prefer the regular bottling of Graham’s, but it is just too early to make any grand prognotications at this point. Spicy, with flavors of licorice and fig, elegant and velvety, nicely structured and with a long finish.

2011 Quinta de Roriz Vintage Port - 350 cs. produced
Essence of just picked carnations highlighted by notes of minerals and cocoa. Accompanieded by flavors of sweet brambly purple fruits, impressively approachable with soft underlying tannins and crisp acidity. Very solid.

2011 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port
Violets, red licorice and gentle baking spices provide an intriguing aromatic profile here. Sophisticated and uniquely intricate in its core. Possessing a finely tuned structure with all the guts to go long term, but deftly and sinfully delicious, while easy to enjoy now. The finest Smith Woodhouse cask sample I’ve ever tasted. Will reserve further judgment until I get to spend more time with a bottle (or two), yet quite impessive.


There were other Vintage Port bottlings offered during the walk around tasting which followed the aforementioned tuturored tasting. I’ll get them included here when time permits. I did not taste the 2011’s while they were being tasted by the other participants. I remained afterwards to slowly taste and write up my own evaluations. During the seminar, I tasted the older Ports instead, while taking extensive notes on what was being discussed by the panelists pertaining to the 2011’s, as they provided so many fantastic details. My thanks to the Symington Family and Premium Port Wine company, as well for PR specialist, Calhoun & Company Communications for allowing me to participate in this excellent event.

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Thanks, Roy - sounds like some great Ports in 2011!

I’m thinking that Dow’s sounds mighty good… [cheers.gif]

Cheers,
Blair

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You won’t go wrong there; neither with Dow or 2011’s.

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Hey Roy,

I’m really wanting to see your thoughts on 2011 Sandemans when you get to try that one. The 2007 Sandemans was fantastic to me (and I know you are a fan of that one too), and I’m keen to know if they continued on a roll with the 2011 [winner.gif] …

Cheers,
Blair

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I too am looking forward to trying this. I loved the 2007, it was one of my favorites of the vintage, and I hope the 2011 is every bit as good.

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Indeed it sounds like Roy drank a totally different Dow.

I’m getting to the age where VP is a sucker bet, but am thinking seriously about some of these. I will have to get some Fonseca-my wife’s favorite Port.

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I won’t get to try it for a few weeks Blair, but I’ve read lots of journos that have had it and others from Port related Forums in the UK and it seems to have garnered a lot of respect, although the comments do not seem at the same level as 2007. BUT … it is way early yet. I have some coming and will be spending time with the bottle(s).

Will let you know, but if there is a buying op in Van, I’d say, go for it. The winemaker felt that 2011 was one of the greatest group of Ports he’s made to date. Lots of people say that, in fact Dirk says that quite a bit … 2000, 2005, 2007 Pisca and 2011 again. But seriously, if in your shoes, if the price is right, at least grab four or so.

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Most critics I’ve read David, have scored the Dow above the Fonseca in 2011. Only one of a half dozen has gone ga ga over the Fonseca. I will wait to try it myself.

Look, this is not about Roy or Andy being right/wrong. We both tasted it and had different impressions. We agree often, actually a heck of a lot. But it is good for us to have different opinions and neither is better than the next, they are just one person’s impressions of a ridiculously young VP. I can tell you that there was one of three Symington’s present who agreed that for him the Dow was a big standout. That being said, these change so dramatically week to week and month to month that the only way to really get a good feel for these youngsters is to spend 3-4 days with a bottle and see how they evolve. To do that though, a cask sample MUST be from the final blend that was approved by the IVDP and exactly what winds up in bottle for sale to consumers.

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It is important to note that even one of the Symington’s stated to me that their VP’s have all shown quite differently each day over the past 4 days they had been presenting them (Roy and I were at the last stop in their USA tour). That is how dramatically they change at this stage.

Right now it’s best to look at impressions and get a feel for what seems to be showing well overall. There may be a review or two that doesn’t seem up to snuff but this may be because of that youthful variation Roy and I have been talking about. While it is still a few months off Roy does a bang up job on his formal review. Few, if any professional reviewers, spend 3-4 days blind with them. That is where you’ll get a very solid review. Right now, as stated, these are just early impressions.

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I see little discussion of this shipper on WB, but this older thread from Roy/Andy has some context for the 2000 Quinta de Roriz [Porto] which is a lesser seen VP, at least for me. This bottle was imported by the Symington’s captive import company, but they didn’t assume full ownership until some years after this vintage. This was double decanted, filtered, and allowed to breathe leading to great enjoyment over two days. Still a hint of structure, no fading at the rims, and figs plus orange peel on the nose with a long sweet finish. I did not find any alcoholic heat here, btw. I enjoy port but had never seen/heard of this estate before, but thought it was great, and would give it a solid A. Production numbers seem confusing to me; I’ve seen comments that 400-2000 cs per annum is the typical declared output.

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