How Touriga Nacional was rescued

For Shining a light on Portugal, I wanted to find out exactly when the flagship Portuguese red-wine variety Touriga Nacional was re-evaluated and saved from near extinction. The first person to answer my plea for information was Paul Symington of the Symington port family and this is his fascinating account – JR.

In the 1970s, three groups of people started working on grape varieties in the Douro: Eng Taborda of the CEVVD, Cockburn's, and José Antonio Rosas and João Nicolão Almeida of Ramos Pinto. These studies did not result...