Port.Club is the digital-first club for port lovers and the port curious, brought to you by Churchill's Port, founder-led port shipper and maker of some of the Douro's finest premium ports.

Port.Club's mission is to share the fortified nectar of the Douro with the next generation of drinkers, by making Churchill's award-winning hand-crafted ports easy to purchase, learn about and make your own.

Membership to Port.Club includes quarterly three-bottle Port Packs and access to unique travel and port education experiences both in Portugal and online. As a special launch offer, anyone who buys a membership will receive one additional pack to gift to someone for Christmas*.

Zoe Graham, part of the Churchill's family dream team, says: “Port.Club is the ultimate Christmas gift for port lovers and the port curious.”

“We know that port can be a confusing category, but the fun of port couldn't be simpler, and our mission is to make people feel why what they're drinking is so good. Different ports will be delivered direct to your door each quarter to try, drink and share, and we hook you up with memorable experiences in our hometown of Porto, the epic vineyards of the Douro, and in the digital world - where you're likely spending most of your time these days anyway.”

Port Packs introduce members to a range of port styles from Churchill's award-winning portfolio. Churchill's is the youngest and smallest of the big-name port houses, fusing a drier style of port with minimal intervention viticulture and winemaking. All Churchill's ports are foot-trod, using only Grade-A grapes and natural yeast for extended fermentation. The result is a style of port well-matched to the evolving taste of today's drinkers.

The Port Packs all come with one everyday port, one special occasion port, and one unique Club Port selected and blended by Churchill's founder and head winemaker Johnny Graham exclusively for the club. Each shipment also comes with materials explaining what's in the pack and an invitation to a virtual tasting with Johnny. Each port in the pack is ready to drink now and represents a different occasion for hosts in the know.

In addition, members will have access to exclusive port experiences both online and in-person. From VIP access to Churchill's intimate 4-bedroom Vineyard House in the Douro Valley to bespoke programs at Churchill's award-winning Lodge in bustling Porto, Port.Club serves as a portal to the world of port for members and their friends.

Annual membership to Port.Club costs £240 and quarterly membership is priced £70. Anyone purchasing an annual membership can gift an additional pack worth £70*.

Visit Port.Club today and never be caught hosting without port again.

Follow:
Instagram: @theport.club
Facebook: @port.clubbychurchills

Ends

For further information on this release and images, please contact Vicky Major at Major PR on vicky@majorpr.co.uk or call 07506750318. For images click here: https://we.tl/t-On5o90J79T 

*Order by 20th December to ensure delivery before Christmas. The launch offer will run until January 15th 2021

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Port.Club
Annual membership: £240 
Includes:
•       Four three-bottle port packs, delivered every three months direct to your door
•       Free additional pack to gift to a member of your family or a friend*
•       Starter kit with goodies to help you best enjoy your port
•       Access to online club shop, with special prices and library Vintage Ports for members only
•       Educational experiences, including virtual tastings with Churchill's founder Johnny Graham
•       VIP access to Churchill's Vineyard House in the Douro and special programs at Churchill's Lodge in Porto
 
Quarterly membership: £70
Includes:
·       One three-bottle port pack delivered direct to your door
·       Starter kit with goodies to help you best enjoy your port
·       Access to online club shop, with special prices for members only
·       Educational experiences, including virtual tasting with Churchill's founder Johnny Graham
 
Churchill's Port
 
Churchill's is one of the world's foremost boutique producers of premium Port and Douro wines. While the other top players in the category are centuries old, Churchill's is still founder-led, and the only independent British port shipper that is not part of a group. Churchill's is a team of 40 people, producing just 50,000 handcrafted cases each year. Master port blender Johnny Graham still makes the wine nearly 40 years after starting the company at the age of 29. The driving desire to use simple methods and top-quality grapes to make excellent port and wine still lives at the heart of everything we do.
 
Signature Drier, Fresh Style of Port: Our ports are made with exclusively Grade A grapes that are 100% foot trod, hand-picked, and twice sorted.  They are fermented for an extended period using only native yeast in traditional granite treading tanks (lagares). This allows for the purest expression of fruit – with more grape sugar converted to alcohol and less brandy required in fortification. The result is our signature drier, fresh style.
 
Quinta da Gricha: Churchill's offices are in Porto, but its heart is at Quinta da Gricha – our 50-hectare estate in the Cima Corgo sub-region of the Douro Valley, where we make our port and our range of innovative Douro terroir wines. Here we practice minimal intervention winemaking and sustainable agriculture to ensure that we can continue to make simply excellent wines in this region for centuries to come.
 
Founding Mission: Churchill's was founded by master port blender Johnny Graham in 1981, making him the 5th generation of his family to make wine in the Douro. Johnny built his reputation solely on his own merits, however, apprenticing from age 20 with some of the great port makers of the Douro. Driven by passion, he started Churchill's at just 29 with the aim of making a distinct personal style of port and wine. Johnny co-founded Churchill's with his two brothers and his wife Caroline Churchill, who also gave the brand its name.
 
Start-up Millennial Mindset: Churchill's is in many ways the millennial port company.  Not only was it born in 1981, but founder Johnny Graham did the most millennial thing anyone can do: he eschewed the stable career path before him as a director at one of the big legacy port houses, and instead chose to start his own company from scratch at age 29.  No one had started a new port house in over 50 years, because regulations make the cost and effort of entry almost impossible (even more so back then). But Johnny followed his dream and created the life he wanted to live. This spirit of independence and simple passion drives Churchill's culture today and is at the heart of what we want to inspire in our drinkers.
 
Family Run: Churchill's is the only port house that is still founder-led with visionary winemaker Johnny Graham still at the helm of both the blending and the business. In 2019, Johnny's eldest daughter Zoe Graham returned from more than a decade abroad to join her father in running Churchill's and lay the groundwork for Churchill's
to transition to a second-generation company. Zoe now heads Churchill's sales and marketing, bringing a global mindset and female POV to the male-dominated world of port. Zoe is joined by her husband Ben Himowitz, one of the few Americans in the Portuguese wine world.
 
Quinta da Gricha Vineyard House: With just four luxury bedrooms tucked into a beautifully remodeled 19th century farmhouse on Churchill's legendary 50 hectare vineyard, Gricha Vineyard House offers guests access to an intimate experience of life in a working Douro winery. Guests get to feel the pace and simplicity of Douro life, learn about viticulture and winemaking in personalized tours and tastings amidst the vines and treading tanks, and enjoy Churchill's award–winning wines while relaxing by the infinity pool or gazing at the valley from the panoramic terrace.
 
Porto Lodge and Cellars:  Nestled into a narrow side street of the ancient customs zone of Vila Nova da Gaia, you'll find Churchill's — a working port lodge showcasing our world-class port and Douro table wines. We invite guests from around the world to experience the buzz and tranquility of a working lodge. Groups frequently break ranks for passing forklifts and new inductees into port find themselves lost in thought amidst the rows of aging barrels in the cavernous vintage and tawny storage house. We offer daily private tours in English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish. The tour will end with a port tasting in our modern tasting room overlooking the Douro River.