Graham’s Unveils New Look for Six Grapes

Click here to see the video of the story of Six Grapes. 

Graham’s has re-designed its Six Grapes reserve port with a contemporary look inspired by the wine’s long history. The logo has been redesigned to reflect the original Six Grapes stencils traditionally used to mark barrels of the best wine from each harvest. The new bottle is elegantly tapered with rounded shoulders and a red capsule to represent the wine’s fruit-driven profile.

The iconic Six Grapes symbol originated in the 19th century. Following each harvest, Graham’s winemakers would mark the barrels of port using grape symbols to rate the wine from one to six. Having six of these symbols marked on the side of the barrel meant the wine inside was complex, structured and balanced – and had Vintage Port potential. By the early 1900s, Graham’s had started producing a reserve port selected from these barrels. Since then, Six Grapes has continued to be Graham’s signature reserve port. It was served on the maiden voyage of the luxury ‘Queen Mary’ across the Atlantic in 1936 and again on the ‘Queen Mary II’ in 2004. The wine was also a personal favourite of Sir Winston Churchill with invoices from his wine merchant, Hatch Mansfield & Co. indicating that it was the only brand of port the Prime Minister had ordered.

Today, Graham’s Six Grapes continues to grow in popularity among wine drinkers around the world. From 2015 to 2020, sales grew by 7% in volume and 19% in value. The brand is distributed in 38 markets, with a strong presence in both the on- and off-trade in its top five markets: Portugal, UK, US, Canada & the Netherlands.

Rupert Symington, CEO of Symington Family Estates, commented: “This is a wine with a remarkable story. We have ledgers in the Graham’s Lodge dating back to the end of the nineteenth century with small Six Grapes symbols in the margins that correspond with barrels containing the same mark. We wanted to honour these origins through the new design, while celebrating the standing of Six Grapes today and its appeal amongst a new generation of port drinkers.”

Graham’s Six Grapes is a blend of vintage-quality wines from four indigenous Douro grape varieties – aromatic Touriga Franca; rich, tannic & well-structured Touriga Nacional; raspberry tinged Tinta Roriz; and chocolate noted Tinta Barroca. The wine is aged for two years in seasoned oak vats which preserves its youthful, blackberry fruit character. It pairs well with chocolate desserts and mature cheeses.