Symington Declares 2024 Vintage Port After Seven Years

Symington Family Estates has announced the declaration of a 2024 Vintage Port — a landmark moment that marks the return to a classic Douro harvest after a seven-year interval since the last declaration in 2017.

Produced only in years of exceptional quality, Vintage Port is one of the most exclusive categories in the world of Port wine, and this new declaration only deepens that rarity. The lengthy gap between declarations reflects the exacting standards of the Symington family, who chose to wait for the ideal conditions before producing wines worthy of their benchmark.

Between 2018 and 2023, the Douro region faced a succession of challenging years, characterised by climatic instability and elevated temperatures. Despite the quality of certain harvests, the conditions necessary for a classic Vintage did not consistently come together.

It was in 2024 that the desired balance was finally achieved, with even ripening and stable climatic conditions, yielding wines that express what the family describes as the “classic harmony of the Douro.” The Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca varieties — fundamental in defining a Vintage year — reached levels of excellence, producing wines that are elegant, structured, and built for the long term.

“A seven-year hiatus between declarations places this Vintage in the territory of historical rarity. But more than that, it is a statement of principle: in a world of urgency, we believe in the value of waiting — because the greatest Vintage Ports only happen when nature dictates the right moment,” said Charles Symington, head winemaker and production director.

The declaration spans all of the group’s principal houses — Dow’s, Graham’s, Warre’s, Cockburn’s, and Quinta do Vesúvio — joined by limited productions including Graham’s The Stone Terraces, Capela da Quinta do Vesúvio, and a restricted selection from Quinta de Roriz, in partnership with the Prats family.

In total, eight distinct expressions of a single exceptional year have been released, each reflecting the individual identity of its house and the unique character of its terroir. With this release, Symington reaffirms its position as one of the foremost references in Port wine, underscoring the importance of time, nature and precision in the creation of great wines.