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Symington Family Estates launches new ‘School of Port’ series

Published:  21 October, 2021

Symington Family Estates has launched a new video course ‘School of Port’, an online video course about port and the Douro.

The 16-episode Essentials course provides a detailed exploration into the world of port. Hosted by experienced port educator Isabel Monteiro, the course is divided into five key chapters: History, Douro Terroir, Production, Ageing and Storing, Serving & Pairing.

This latest course was developed in response to the large volume of requests for online training, which participants could take in their own time, at their own pace.

Each episode is around three to five minutes in length, and Monteiro will teach viewers about the fundamentals of port in an informal and engaging way at different locations. Participants who have viewed all episodes are then invited to take a short online test to assess their port knowledge and will be issued with a School of Port certificate.

Symington Family Estates first launched School of Port in April 2020 in response to the coronavirus lockdown as a way of continuing port training sessions, which had previously taken place offline.

The core offering of the ‘School of Port’ has been a bespoke workshop for wine trade professionals, conducted online by a port wine educator. Since launching, over 1,300 people have taken the workshop.

The company said that the new online course joins School of Port’s active Instagram account, featuring rich educational content, including expert Q&As, infographics, and interviews with people connected to the port trade.

Most recently, the platform has released a series of ‘how-to’ videos called Portorials, which are available on the School of Port Instagram and YouTube channels. This includes tutorials on how to read a port label, make a port & tonic, decant Vintage Port, and find vegan ports.

“When we first launched School of Port our goal was to provide engaging online workshops primarily for trade professionals, with the Instagram account being the channel that was accessible to consumers,” said Rob Symington, fifth generation director at Symington Family Estate.

“Over the last year, however, we had many requests from wine lovers for further port training to take in their own time – and we developed The Essentials online course in response. We are excited to be broadening the School of Port’s educational offering and showing both wine professionals and consumers around the world the versatility of port and its relevance today.”






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