206 Port anD the Douro
two lodges in Vila Nova de Gaia, one of which used to belong to Mackenzie Driscoll, and
the name has served in the past as a second brand.
Barão de Vilar
Barão de Vilar Vinhos SA
Rua candido dos Reis, 575, 4400-075 Vila nova de Gaia
tel. (351) 223 773 330
http://www.baraodevilar.com
Although this company bills itself as being ‘established in 1715’, it is in fact the most recent
of all the Port shipping firms, having been founded in 1996 by Fernando and Álvaro van
Zeller. The van Zellers can trace their origins back to thirteenth century Flanders and
migrated to Portugal in the seventeenth century. The family used to own Quinta do Noval,
and Barão de Vilar occupies part of the lodge that used to belong to Noval. Despite being
a small shipper, the company produces a comprehensive range of wines from ruby through
tawny to some good mid-weight vintage Ports. Rather rustic colheitas, dating back to the
1950s, have been bought in from stock matured by the Casa do Douro. The company
owns a winery near Vilariça in the Douro Superior. Barão de Vilar also ship Port under the
Feuerheerd and Maynard brands.
Barros
Barros Almeida & Ca
Vinhos sa, Rua d. Leonor de Freitas,
180/2, apartado 39, 4401-955 Vila nova de Gaia
tel. (351) 223 752 320
http://www.porto-barros.pt
Barros is one of the principal brands belonging to Sogevinus, a Spanish group that includes
Burmester, Cálem, Gilberts and Kopke. Barros itself is a relative newcomer to the scene,
having been founded in 1913 when Manoel de Almeida left the firm of Motta & Vaz to
create his own independent company – Almeida em Comandita. His sister married Manoel
de Barros, who reputedly started out as an office boy and then entered the firm as a partner,
altering the name to Barros Almeida. Barros weathered the depression of the 1930s and
used it as an opportunity to buy up a number of ailing firms. The last acquisition was Kopke
(founded in 1638 and purchased by Barros in 1953). The Barros family themselves sold out
in 2006 (retaining Quinta Dona Matilde) and Sogevinus is currently controlled by Nova
Galicia, one of the largest cajas in Spain.
The bulk of Barros wines are young rubies and tawnies destined for the Netherlands,
France, Belgium, Germany and the home market. However, its strength at the quality
end of the market lies less in vintage Port than in aged tawnies and colheitas. Barros
maintains substantial stocks of these wines in Gaia dating back to the 1930s. Wines like
the finely tuned 1966 colheita, a rich, concentrated 1937 colheita and a beautifully lifted
thirty-year-old tawny put Barros into the premier league. Vintage Ports can be open,