Quinta do Bomfim (Symington Family Estates)

Who they are

Quinta do Bomfim is a vineyard estate on the bank of the Douro, in Pinhão, owned by Symington Family Estates. It is the home of Dow's vintage ports, and the Symington family, according to its website, has worked it for five generations. The estate's old winery was built in 1896; in it the youngest wines rest before going downriver to the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia. In 2024 the estate won the Best of Wine Tourism global prize and was among the top 50 of World's Best Vineyards that year.

What you can do

The visit revolves around the tastings, which change according to the wine chosen:

• Classic: three well-known ports from Dow's, Graham's and Cockburn's.
• Douro DOC: four still Douro wines from the family.
• Quinta Vintage Port: three single-quinta vintage ports from Dow's, Warre's and Graham's.
• Dow's: an LBV, a 30-year-old tawny and the 1994 vintage.
• Premium: Dow's 40-year-old tawny, Graham's 1997 Single Harvest and the Dow's 1994 and Graham's 2000 vintages.
• The Specialist: high-end Douro wines and ports of different styles.

There is also a walk through the vineyards with a hat, map and bottle of water (a glass of Altano white costs €2 more) and the Merenda na Vinha, a picnic on the terrace above the river with a bottle of Altano white and a glass of Dow's port. The estate also has a restaurant, Bomfim 1896, with traditional Douro cooking, and a room for meetings and company events. The website does not publish the prices or duration of each tasting on this page: they appear when you choose a date in the booking.

When to go

Open every day. From 1 March to 31 October, from 10:00 to 19:00, with the last visit at 17:30; from 1 November to 28 February, from 9:30 to 18:30, with the last visit at 17:00. Closed on 25 December, 1 January and 4 July, which it devotes to staff training. The grape harvest usually runs from September to early October; in those weeks you can see the picking up close, all done by hand, and the modern lagares, designed by the house to imitate foot treading.

Bookings and how to get there

You book online from the estate's page, where existing bookings are also managed. The phone number is +351 254 730 370. The website does not state the cancellation policy or the languages of the visits, so it is worth checking when you book. The quinta is in Pinhão (5085-060, municipality of Alijó), next to the river.