Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/65124
The terraced vineyards along the Upper Douro. Natasha Bridge, Chief Blender for The Fladgate Partnership (Taylor Fladgate, Fonseca and Croft), and her husband Adrian Bridge, The Fladgate Partnership's Managing Director. The city of Villa Nova de Gaia is in the background. told the story of port in terms of its history, and the traditions of serving," says Rupert Symington, fourth generation of the founding Symington family, port shippers since 1882. With cousins Johnny and Paul, he is joint CEO and responsible for Symington Family Estates sales in North America. Their premium port brands include Graham's, Warre's, Dow's and Cockburn's, among others, and together account for more than a third of all the premium port sold in the world. "For example, these traditions hold that you've always got to pass the port 128 / the tasting panel / may 2012 decanter to the left, and should open old vintage bottles with port tongs. It's great folklore, but it doesn't lend itself to the modern consumer," says Symington. "I mean, you can't expect the modern consumer to go around with red hot port tongs or to always pass a bottle of port to the left. So what I'm trying to do is talk to people about how to enjoy port, and when. My message is that, whereas champagne is for celebration, port is the ultimate relaxation wine." Towards this goal, Symington enthusiastically extols the virtues of two of his family's most popular vintage- character, or reserve, ports: Graham's Six Grapes and Cockburn's Special Reserve. Six Grapes was named for the six distinctive "grape bunch" stamp- ings on casks that held superior wines made from the same varieties used in Graham's vintage ports, specifically Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Amarela and Tinto Cão. Cockburn's (pronounced KOH-burnz) was purchased from Beam Global Spirits & Wine by the Symington family in 2010 and the Special Reserve has now been brought back in its fuller, meatier style and in a sleeker embossed bottle reminiscent of the original design. Interestingly, Cockburn's started the reserve port category in 1969, which made vintage-style port affordable for the first time. In 1977—a vintage year that was widely declared by the majority of port houses—Cockburn's raised eyebrows by not releasing a 1977 vintage port, opting to use their vintage-quality grapes for their Special Reserve instead. Today, special reserve ports—which also include Dow's Trademark, Warre's Warrior and Smith Woodhouse Lodge Reserve—represent some of the best bargains in port, as they are affordably priced (typically in the $20 range), offer the deep plum and cherry-grape flavors of vintage ports (although without the same degree of depth), and like LBVs are ready to drink, require no decanting, and can be kept for weeks after opening. "Port is actually the only wine that you can open on a Wednesday and enjoy on a Wednesday night weeks later, without any spoilage," says Symington. "And that's a huge plus." Tasting the young, almost brash fruitiness of best-selling Graham's Six Grapes and the soft velvet sophistica- tion of Cockburn's Special Reserve side-by-side brings out their notable differences. "Cockburn's Special Reserve spends four to five years in wood, whereas Six Grapes spends two to three years in wood," says Symington. "Six Grapes is all about young, big extracted blueberry fruit and blackberries. It's the Zinfandel of port. But Special Reserve is all about cask finish, with a little drier woodi- ness, more like an aged Pinot Noir. And it's made with a little riper, more mature fruit." As for the future of port, Symington