Graham’s Port creates limited Bicentenary Collection of rare ports

Port house Graham’s Port has launched a rare collection of world-renowned ports  in a specially-designed piece of furniture.

With only 30 editions produced in total, two of the individually-numbered, Bicentenary Collection cabinets have been auctioned to raise money for charity.

Cabinet number two was auctioned for $575,000 at the Naples Winter Wine Festival in Florida, USA, alongside a six-night exploration of the finest ports in Porto and the Douro Valley – hosted by the Symington family – as well as a holiday to the island of Madeira. The money raised will go to the Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF).

The port collection is comprised of six Single Harvest Tawny Ports and six classic Vintage Ports, including wines from 1963, 1994 and 2011, which have been described as some of the greatest declarations of the past two centuries.

All the Vintage Ports have been aged in Graham’s cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia and the Single Harvest Tawny Ports were selected and bottled specifically for the collection, including two from 2000 and 2006 not previously released.

The 1982 Single Harvest Tawny was first bottled to mark the birth of HRH Prince George of Cambridge and the 2000 Single Harvest Tawny was the first port made with the Symington family’s modern treading lagares.

Each wine has been selected by members of the 3rd, 4th and 5th generation of the Symington family – who have been port producers since 1882 and owners of Graham’s since 1970. The collection is presented in a cabinet made from very rare santos rosewood by Portuguese master-joiners WeWood.

The collection is completed by a hand-blown decanter and set of wine glasses produced by Jancis Robinson MW in partnership with British product designer Richard Brendon, and an expert two-part Durand corkscrew designed for removing corks from mature and valuable fine wines, as well as a specially commissioned decanting funnel from Porto-based silversmiths Ourivesaria Coutinho.

Johnny Symington, Chairman of Symington Family Estates, said: “2020 was a milestone in Graham’s history and we are extremely pleased to have been able to support three different charities with the money raised in auctioning two of thirty individually numbered, Bicentenary Collection Cabinets, supporting local communities in the UK, Portugal and the US.

“As a family business we are committed to supporting the local communities in which we work, and it is enormously gratifying to be able to make these donations.”