Port ProDuCers anD shiPPers 207supple and attractive (1995, 1987, for example) but Barros declares on a frequent basis
and the wines tend to be relatively light and early maturing.
Borges
Sociedade dos Vinhos Borges SA
Rua do infante d. henrique, 421, apartado 18, 4439 – 909 Rio tinto
tel. (351) 223 745 770
http://www.vinhosborges.pt
Borges & Irmão used to be one of the best known names in Portugal. The company was
founded in 1884 by two brothers, who began trading in tobacco, matches, textiles and
wine. They made enough money to establish a high-street bank which, like all Portuguese-
owned banks, was nationalised in 1975, a year after the 25 April revolution. Subsidiary
companies like Borges & Irmão Vinhos went with them. In the ensuing confused political
situation, Borges faced an uncertain future as successive governments talked about ways of
returning Portugal’s moribund state sector to private ownership. The quality of the wines
suffered although by the mid-1990s, under the auspices of winemaker Anselmo Mendes,
there were encouraging signs of improvement.
After decades of uncertainty, Borges & Irmão was completely restructured in 1998 and
stripped of its principal assets to realise capital. Much of the stock and two of the company’s
quintas, Junco and Casa Nova in the Pinhão Valley, were purchased by Taylor. This leaves
the company with Quinta do Soalheira in the Rio Torto. The company is now integrated
into JMV, a Portuguese group which owns Torrié Café. Rosés, Vinhos Verdes and Douro
wines are now more important than Port but some fine old tawnies and rather attenuated
vintage Ports from Borges can still be found for sale on the market.
Burmester
J.W. Burmester & Ca., SA
Rua Barão de Forrester, 73, 4400-034 Vila nova de Gaia
tel. (351) 223 747 290
http://www.burmesterporto.com
The Burmesters are a large family who came to Portugal from Germany in 1730 and began to
specialise in Port twenty years later. The name is a corruption of Burgmeester, who was effectively
mayor of a town or city in the middle ages. There are nine branches of the family altogether,
one of which settled in the United Kingdom, forming the company Burmester Nash & Co.
with offices in both London and Oporto. Frederick Burmester subsequently became a founding
director of the Westminster Bank (precursor of NatWest) and the family name is still represented
by Burmester Road in the London suburb of Wimbledon. In 1834 Johann Wilhelm Burmester
arrived in Oporto to work for the family company; when he became sole owner in 1861 the
name was changed to J. W. Burmester and Ca. The firm remained in family hands until 1999
when it was sold to Amorim, a Portuguese family conglomerate which began by selling corks
to the Port trade. Amorim subsequently sold the firm on to Sogevinus in 2005, retaining the
company’s only vineyard, Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo.