Symington Family Estates to open €6million Port townhouse

The Portuguese wine business wants to "reinvent the traditional members club' with a three-storey townhouse in the heart of Porto, and a vibe that's anything but conventional, Rob Symington tells Sarah Neish.  In October 2023, leading Port and Douro wine producer Symington Family Estates (SFE) created a wine club in honour of the family's original matriarch, the Portuguese/British powerhouse Beatriz Leitão Carvalhosa Atkinson. By the end of that year, Matriarca membership had been rolled out to Port enthusiasts in the UK, but the club itself was a precursor to a much bigger project; a physical presence in the city of Porto. The project has been in the pipeline for some time. Five years ago SFE purchased a three-storey townhouse on one of Porto's main squares with the idea of opening a Port hub that would showcase the contemporary face of the fortified wine. Or, as Rob Symington puts it, offer "a sweet shop for grown-ups". Having acquired the building in 2020, "we were all ready to go, and then the world stopped", he says. The onset of Covid-19 put paid to the project's initial launch plans but allowed further alchemy to take place in imagining the full scope of possibility for this Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory of Port. Matriarca is now on track to open in June 2025 following a €6 million investment, db can reveal. "We bought the building for about €3million, and have probably spent the same again on its renovation, outfitting and launch," reveals Symington, who became joint CEO, along with head winemaker Charles Symington, when the company's former chairman retired in February.

Delicious and versatile

The concept, he continues, is to "reinvent the traditional members club format that Port is known for. It's all about showcasing how exciting, delicious and versatile Port can be." Showmanship is perhaps the key word here, with mixology set to be a vital cog in the wheel. On the ground floor of Matriarca, says Symington, visitors will find a wine bar and pantry area, "where guests can order small sharing plates". Meanwhile, the second floor will be home to a restaurant "decked out in very contemporary fashion", while the cherry on top of the proverbial cake is the top floor which houses a wine academy, cocktail bar, and members club area. The cocktail bar will be the playground for some of Porto's top mixologists to run riot with the cornucopia of flavours that Port can offer. "Ruby Port is perhaps the better known style, but with tawnies and whites people are really surprised to discover how they can be incorporated into different drinks," says Symington.

Design on point

Nailing the design for Matriarca was paramount. "Attracting a younger audience, and not just young, but new consumers to the Port category in general, depends on aesthetics," Symington tells db. "As human beings we buy with our eyes, so labels and bottles need to look like they belong in the 21st century. If you look like something your grandfather would drink, you’re only going to get grandfathers drinking it." While he acknowledges that "we're probably not going to suddenly get 25 year olds to drink Port at scale", Symington, 41, is conscious that "experiences" are a valuable currency for Gen-Z. As such, a visit to Matriarca will be fundamental to SFE's marketing strategy and how a new generation perceives the potential for Port. Calling the new establishment "the spiritual home" of the formerly launched Matriarca wine club, Symington adds that although SFE's own Port brands - Graham's, Cockburn's, Dow's and Warre's - will be up in lights, "we won’t just be serving our own Ports and wines, but will also be showcasing the richness of wines produced by friends and colleagues in other countries." With recent data showing that only one in four visitors to Porto actually visit a Port lodge, Matriarca might just prove a temptation that's too good to miss.