Wine, Portugal and Climate Change
Pioneering wine-making that meets the challenges of our time
by Rob Symington
Associate Director, Symington Family Estates
Tuesday, 16 June 2020, 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm
Register to participate via Zoom now
This event was due to be hosted by HE the Portuguese Ambassador at his Residence on 23 March, and it was fully booked. Those ticket sales will now be donated to Causa de Crianca and we hope that further donations will be made as a result of sharing this event with a wider audience. Your support and generosity would be greatly valued.
In this talk Rob will provide an overview of how his family port and wine company is pioneering sustainable innovation and using their resources to respond proactively to the climate emergency and the overlapping ecological crises facing humanity today.
ABOUT SYMINGTON FAMILY ESTATES
The Symingtons of Scottish, English and Portuguese descent have been Port producers in northern Portugal since 1882. For 5 generations they have combined their passion for producing fine wines and Ports with a deep commitment to the region’s land and people. Today, ten Symingtons work across their four Port houses: Graham’s, Cockburn’s, Dow’s and Warre’s, as well as their Douro wine brands – Quinta do Vesuvio, Quinta do Ataíde, Altano and Prats & Symington (producers of Chryseia and Post Scriptum). In 2019 they launched their first wines from Quinta da Fonte Souto, a new estate in the Portalegre sub-region of the Alto Alentejo. The Symington family are the leading vineyard owners in the Douro valley, with 26 Quintas covering 2,462 hectares and 1,114 ha of vineyard. All their vineyards are sustainably managed under a minimum intervention certification and 130 ha are organically farmed, the largest area of organic vineyard in northern Portugal. The family have invested significantly in viticulture R&D to adapt to climate change and have an ambitious sustainability plan.
ABOUT ROB SYMINGTON
Rob is a member of the 5th generation of Symingtons to work at Symington Family Estates (SFE). As well as being Head of Sustainability, he works with his colleagues, siblings and cousins on projects spanning Communications, People & Culture, and Commercial Strategy.
In 2019 Rob led the team that achieved B Corporation status for Symington, becoming the first wine company in Portugal to take this step and commit to the highest standards of ethical business practices, and social and environmental performance. The family are deeply concerned about the threat of climate change and – as members of International Wineries for Climate Action – the business is working on a comprehensive plan (Mission 2025) to reduce its carbon emissions, as well as conducting pioneering R&D to adapt to the impacts of climate change in the vineyard. In January 2020 they launched The Symington Impact Fund to provide financial support for organisations addressing social and environmental issues in the regions where they work.
Before joining his family business, Rob worked in London for 10 years – starting his career in business consulting with Ernst & Young before co-founding and building Escape the City - a business that helps professionals make meaningful career changes in pursuit of work that matters to them and to the world.
Fundraising
All funds raised as a result of this talk and for a period of 2 months following the event will be donated to
A Causa da Criança
Associação de Proteção à Infância e Juventude (I.P.S.S.)
Read more about A Causa da Criança
Make a Donation
Those who registered to attend our event on 23 March 2020 will be sent a code to participate via Zoom.
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For further information please email us at info@apsociety.co.uk
