The oldest British-owned Port house, Warre's was founded by two young entrepreneurs, Clarke and Thornton, in 1670. These two adventurers were out to make their fortune in Portugal, following the marriage of King Charles II to Catherine of Bragança. The pair settled in Viana do Castelo, a town at the mouth of the River Lima in northern Portugal, not that far from Bragança itself. Relations between France and England were deteriorating, and this included an embargo on French goods, naturally including wine. They set about taking advantage of the situation by establishing trade between
England and their new home. Woollen goods and dried cod came from England, in exchange for local products, typically the wines of northern Portugal. With the Anglo-French War in 1689, which was acted out not only in Europe but North America also, there was an even greater demand for their goods. The two businessmen looked further inland for sources of wine, their combined gaze settling on the wines of the Douro. And so it was that the firm that would one day be Warre's began trading in the wine that would one day simply be referred to as Port.
The first sign of a Warre taking any interest in the business was in 1729, when William Warre, who had been born in Madras in India in 1706, was invited to take on a partnership. The firm thus became Messrs Clarke, Thornton and Warre. Together they acquired land in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from Oporto, which would later be the location of the their lodges and offices. Their business flourished, and around them the British community was gradually established in Oporto, building their own school, hospital and clubs. The Warre family were leading figures in the region, unsurprising as they were one of the first to arrive here, and none less so than the next William Warre, nephew to the senior partner in Messrs Clarke, Thornton and Warre. Having signed up to join the British army in 1803, he found himself in Oporto in 1809 repelling the invading French, under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley, later to be the Duke of Wellington. The Peninsula War, as it was known, continued until 1811, during which time the Duke acquired his taste for Port. Meanwhile William Warre, who enjoyed a successful career that saw him attain the rank of Lieutenant-General, was knighted for his outstanding service to both Britain and Portugal in 1839, and was decorated by the King of Portugal with the Orders of Torre and Espada and the Order of S. Bento d'Avis.
The vineyards of Portugal thus flourished, as did the Port house of Messrs Clarke, Thornton and Warre, which gradually came to be known simply as Warre's. It survived the phylloxera and oidium epidemics of the late 19th Century, and the wines found new markets, particularly in South America. Business was good when, in 1892, Andrew J Symington took on a partnership in the firm. He had joined the business just ten years before having arrived from Scotland. Half a century later, the Port industry faced a massive slump in interest, as fashions of the mid-20th Century dissuaded people from drinking these fabulous, fortified wines. The business was sold to Symington's descendents during this era, taking over complete control of Warre's in 1950, and to this day Warre's Port remains a part of Symington Family Estates.
As with other Port houses, Warre's will always be inextricably linked with its quintas, the estates dotted along the Douro and her tributaries that are the source of this region's grapes. With Warre's this is Quinta da Cavadinha, located in the Pinhão Valley in the upper reaches of the Douro, known as the Alto Douro (or Douro Superior). Today it is widely acknowledged that it is these vineyards, with their low rainfall, that are the source of the best quality grapes. The Pinhão is a tributary of the Douro, flowing in from the north, joining the main body of water at the town of the same name. The valley is home not only to Cavadinha, but also Quinta do Noval and Quinta do Passadouro (Niepoort), and Dow's Quinta do Bomfim is located close to the union of the two rivers on the Douro. Cavadhina is an important source of fruit for Warre's Vintage Port, and in non-declared years it may be bottled as a single quinta wine. It is also the location of Warre's experimental vineyard, created to assess newly available planting material, rootstock and clones, and the plantings are in sufficient quantity for microvinifications to be performed to assess the results. In addition to Cavadinha, Warre's have also recently acquired Quinta do Bom Retiro Pequeno, a leading estate located in the Rio Torto valley, another of the Douro's tributaries which joins the river not far downstream of Pinhão. A 46 hectare estate that has long been a prime source of fruit for Warre's, they have now permanently secured the asset. As with other Port houses Warre's also maintain a lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia, on the site purchased by Messrs Clarke, Thornton and Warre. Today the buildings house the largest oak vat used by any house, the Memel Vat, which holds the equivalent of over 178000 bottles of Port.
Although the vintage and single quinta wines naturally head up any portfolio, I would encourage any keen advocate of Port to familiarise themselves with Warre's Traditional Late Bottled Vintage. Warre's are one of the few producers of this style of wine which offers a true taste of vintage quality at a reasonable price. As with all Late Bottled Vintage Ports, the wine has spent four years in cask (hence the term late-bottled) rather than the two years that the Vintage Ports see. The difference between this and a standard LBV is that the wine is bottled with neither fining nor filtration, and then aged in bottle for five years prior to release. The quality can be in a different league to many other LBV Ports. In addition, fans of Tawny Port should look out for another strong component of the Warre portfolio, the recently introduced Ten Year Old Otima, which has also been joined by a Twenty Year Old bottling. This is a very high quality, traditional style, presented as a very attractive, modern package with clean lines. They have never failed to impress me. The range is completed with blended tawnies, a branded ruby Warrior, and other entry-level wines. Overall Warre's do not produce such opulent wines as can be found elsewhere in the Symington stable, but they can often have great elegance and perfume. Naturally the vintage Ports lead the way, and the Quinta da Cavadinha can give excellent value for money from the right vintage. They are wonderful wines, and I have fond memories of many vintages, not least the Tercentenary 1970 vintage, which I drank week-in week-out as a student, when prices for bottles were not quite what they are today. The 1980 vintage is also fine, deeply coloured, and grossly under-rated by many Port cognoscenti.
Not usually available by the glass, but a regular customer had left behind much of a bottle he had purchased the night before and it was being sold off at a good price per glass. Only a month or three since I last had this. Deep colour, lots of fruit, character and depth. Firm, sweet, creamy, structured. Decent length. Really very good indeed.
(hide)
