242 Port anD the Douro
1966 and 1970 vintages of Warre prove, they have the structure to last. In 1978 the
company acquired Quinta da Cavadinha, an A-grade property overlooking the Pinhão
valley, followed by Quinta do Retiro Antigo in the Rio Torto in 2006. Together these
two properties form the backbone of the Warre lote, the style of which is deliberately
in between that of Graham and Dow. In good interim years, wine from Cavadinha is
declared as a single-quinta vintage, which shares much of the fragrant aromatic character
of Warre’s vintage. Quinta de Cavadinha has an adega equipped with robotic lagares
which produces about 45 per cent of the company’s needs with the rest produced either
at Quinta do Bomfim or Quinta do Sol.
Warre’s LBVs are unfiltered and bottle-matured, released around six years after
the harvest. These wines have genuine vintage character. Warre also produce a pair of
excellent aged tawnies bottled as Otima, as well as a good reserve Port known as ‘Warrior’.
The wines are drawn from the same properties that produce Warre’s vintage Port and
‘Warrior’ has much more substance and character than many other wines in this category.
In continuous production since the 1750s, it is the oldest brand in the Port business.
an eighteenth-century prankster
Plenty of good pranks are played after a glass or two of good Port. William Warre,
born in oporto in 1784, used sealing wax to fix the pigtail of Pedro alves (an elderly
Portuguese member of the firm) to his desk as he slept, no doubt after a heavy lunch.
the ensuing indignation meant that the young William Warre left the firm and pursued
a military career. having distinguished himself in the Peninsular War, being present
at every major battle except Bussaco, he went on to become Lt. General sir William
Warre. his letters, edited by his namesake William (‘Bill’) Warre, show that Wellington
asked to be supplied with Warre’s Port. a portrait of Lt. General Warre hangs in the
Factory house.Wiese & Krohn
(see under Krohn)