Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

Anything to do with Port.
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JacobH
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Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

Post by JacobH »

Quite an interesting article about the acquisition and Sogevinus in general in The Buyer
Local brand recognition has doubtless been helped by the huge, un-missable Calem lodge in Ribeira, the most visited of all the historic lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia, and also the most prominent, looking across the Douro to Porto on the other side.

By contrast, in terms of international sales Sogevinus has been something of an ‘also ran’ compared to the other big port houses, despite exporting to some 60 countries. Only Kopke and Calem have serious brand recognition, whilst Burmester and Barros in particular are barely known.

A big part of the problem is that whilst other producers have moved away from port (where sales have been falling for years) into table wine, at Sogevinus, port, especially tawny, still dominates output accounting for 7.8 million bottles of the 8.8 million bottles produced each year.

[...]

There have been other exciting developments recently including a new brand-promoting al fresco restaurant on the quayside outside Calem with delicious food produced by a leading Portuguese chef. Meanwhile the group opened the 125 hectare Quinta de S. Luiz to the public last year having converted it into a state of the art winery for still DOC Douro wines, which should help the move upmarket.

When the group opens its long-planned 150-room, €30m five star Kopke Hotel within the next two years, this should also boost international recognition of the Kopke brand, and maybe by extension some of the others too.

[...]

This morning’s announcement (June 30) of the further acquisition of Quinta da Boavista from Lima Smith, then, will allow Sogevinus to strengthen its position in the still wine market, as part of the decision to focus on this category, and bring to its portfolio two new highly-respected wines Boa-Vista and Quinta da Boavista.
A few thoughts, in no particular order:
  • I am very sad that there don’t appear to be any plans for a SQVP from Boavista: a property once owned by Barron Forrester and Offley Vintage Ports were called “Offley Boavista” for years because they thought it was so important to their brand.
  • I am amazed that Sogevinus is not concentrating on its strengths: tawnies and colheitas, not least because they have the advantage of being able to be sold old and at a premium.
  • The group obviously has access to loads of cash or credit to do all of these projects. I wonder how many other properties or labels they are going to buy?
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Axel P
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Re: Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

Post by Axel P »

So, now Sogevinus has a Quinta for their potential next Calem Single Quinta Vintage Port :D
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Re: Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

Post by JacobH »

I think “Barros Boavista” has a nicer ring to it!
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forest26
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Re: Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

Post by forest26 »

The press release I received about this. Looks like a historic quinta is destined to make still wines.


Grupo Sogevinus announces acquisition of historic
Quinta da Boavista
26th June 2020

Sogevinus has announced the acquisition of the historic Quinta da Boavista from Lima Smith, an 80-hectare property that was part of the first delimitation of the Douro region carried out by the Marquis of Pombal in 1756. Located on the right bank of the Douro River, in the heart of the Cima- Corgo, it was owned by the emblematic Baron of Forrester in the 19th century.



A geometric panorama of hand-built schist terraces (up to 8m in height), combined with specific climatic conditions, make Boavista’s terroir unique. Of the property's 80 hectares, 36 ha are vineyards, with Donzelinho, Tinto Cão and Touriga Nacional varieties planted. The estate also has a large area of Vinhas Velhas, responsible for the production of several award-winning wines, such as Quinta da Boavista Vinha do Oratório and Quinta da Boavista Vinha do Ujo, awarded 94 and 95 Robert Parker points, respectively.

This acquisition allows Sogevinus to strengthen its position in the still wine market, following the strategy of focusing on this category, and bringing to its portfolio two new brands - Boa-Vista and Quinta da Boavista - high quality wines and internationally recognized which complement its presence in the premium segment.

“With a historic legacy in the Douro and following the strategy of consolidating still wines, we believe that the acquisition of Quinta da Boavista will decisively strengthen our portfolio of DOC wines, particularly in the premium segment. Quinta da Boavista has been very successful in recent years in the development of internationally recognized wines and our expectation is to continue to produce great wines here”, stresses Sergio Marly, Sogevinus Group CEO.

Sogevinus thus reinforces its position in the Douro with the acquisition of another emblematic estate, joining Quintas de S. Luiz, Arnozelo and Bairro, further cementing its 500-year-old legacy.

END

Media requests, images and interviews can be arranged by contacting Spritz Marketing & PR - Elizabeth Cook (elizabeth@spritzmarketing.co.uk) 07786 865116 or Astrid Lewis (astrid@spritzmarketing.co.uk) 07598 269842

Notes to Editors
Sogevinus Fine Wines is an independent, privately owned, Douro wine producer. Its portfolio includes Kopke, Burmester, Cálem and Barros. Cálem is the umbrella brand for the leading Port brand – “Cálem Velhotes”, both in volume and in value in the Portuguese Off-Trade market (28,5% Volume and 26,0% value Market Share YTD’20 ACNielsen). Representing five centuries of wine, Sogevinus is proud of the unique identities of each of the individual Houses. With 250 ha of vines spread over three estates (Quinta do Bairro, Quinta de São Luiz and Quinta do Arnozelo), Sogevinus is committed to sustainable practices that seek to preserve a unique terroir in the birthplace of its wines, the Douro Valley. As well as securing worldwide recognition for Port production, Sogevinus has been making DOC Douro wines of exceptional quality since 2006. With a strong international position and through maintaining the wisdom of generations as well as applying the high standards of quality, DOC Douro Sogevinus wines are acclaimed by critics and specialist publications at an international level.
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Re: Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

Post by Andy Velebil »

Lima Smith used it for table wine as well, IIRC. I don't know why they would use it for table wines and not Port. Have people finally figured out it's not that good a Quinta for Port after all?
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Re: Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Lima & Smith were using it to make Port, although most of the grapes were going into the production of top end table wine. Lima & Smith had come to the conclusion that it was superb terroir for tawny Ports and were slowly building up their stocks to be able to release a range of tawny Ports with their first due to be launched under the Boa Vista name in 2021 or 2022 (I forget which). I understand that the stocks built up so far were sold as part of the estate deal so, presumably, will become part of the blending stocks available to Sogrape.

As far as I am aware, Lima & Smith will continue to produce and sell their Tecedeiras branded range of Port.
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Re: Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

Post by JacobH »

That's really interesting. Thanks!

Considering the profile of Sogrape's Port houses I can readily imagine that some stocks of high quality tawny would make the property even more attractive to them since the lag between production and sale is massive making it hard to increase volumes save acquisition.

Let's cross our fingers that they will see the benefit in retaining this quinta's name on some Port bottles. SQTP isn't really a thing- I think only Ramos Pinto have seriously made it- but there is no particular reason why not.
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Re: Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

Post by Will W. »

AHB wrote: 21:47 Fri 10 Jul 2020 As far as I am aware, Lima & Smith will continue to produce and sell their Tecedeiras branded range of Port.
That is correct: we had a lovely catch-up with Tony Smith at Quinta de Covela a few days ago; Lima & Smith shall indeed crack on with Tecedeiras ports, and the firm is now likewise marketing still wines produced with grapes from the same property.
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Re: Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

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AHB wrote: 21:47 Fri 10 Jul 2020I understand that the stocks built up so far were sold as part of the estate deal so, presumably, will become part of the blending stocks available to Sogrape.
Presumably you mean Sogevinus?
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Re: Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

Post by DRT »

I think it a great pity that this famous and spectacularly beautiful quinta has been sold twice in such a short space of time and seems destined to produce still wines rather than Port. That said, Baron Forester might be quite please that once again the wines from the Quinta he once owned will be shipped in their un-adulterated state :D
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Re: RE: Re: Quinta da Boavista bought by Sogevinus

Post by JacobH »

DRT wrote:I think it a great pity that this famous and spectacularly beautiful quinta has been sold twice in such a short space of time and seems destined to produce still wines rather than Port. That said, Baron Forester might be quite please that once again the wines from the Quinta he once owned will be shipped in their un-adulterated state :D
You are quite right. With so many historic Quintas now being turned over to table wines (Roriz comes particularly to mind) he would probably think he won the argument. It just took 175 years for him to be proved right!
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