Warre's Port

Warre's began in 1670, when Englishmen William Burgoyne and John Jackson opened offices in northern Portugal as Burgoyne & Jackson, a general trading company exporting wines, olive oil and fruit and importing dried cod and English woollen goods. The name changed as partners joined: after John Clark married Prudence Burgoyne in 1718 the firm traded as John Clark, by 1723 it was Clark & Thornton, and in 1729 it became Messrs. Clark, Thornton & Warre with the arrival of William Warre, born in India in 1706 to a family long established in the East India Company. By the end of the 18th century Warre's was one of the leading Port companies: in 1791, when 21 companies exported a little over 30,000 pipes of Port, Warre & Sons shipped 2,937 pipes, 10% of the total.

• 1670: William Burgoyne and John Jackson found Burgoyne & Jackson in northern Portugal
• 1718-1723: the firm trades as John Clark, then as Clark & Thornton
• 1729: William Warre (born in India, 1706) arrives; the firm becomes Messrs. Clark, Thornton & Warre
• 1791: Warre & Sons ships 2,937 pipes of Port, 10% of the 30,000-plus pipes exported that year by 21 companies

William Warre (1706-1773) started a Port dynasty on arriving in Portugal in 1729. In 1745 he married Elizabeth Whitehead, sister of the British Consul John Whitehead, who designed and built the British Factory House in Porto. Their fifth child, James Warre, spent more than 50 years in the Port trade and fathered the family's best-known member, another William Warre (1784-1853). Porto-born and commissioned as an officer in the British Army, this William served under Field Marshal Beresford and the Duke of Wellington through the Peninsular War (1808-1812) and supplied Wellington with Port from the family firm. In a letter to his father dated 15 May 1810, written from Army Headquarters at Fornos d'Algodres, he described Wellington asking him to procure a hogshead of very fine old Port. He rose to Lieutenant-General and received awards and titles from both Portugal and England.

• William Warre (1706-1773): the first Warre in Portugal, arrived 1729
• William Warre (1784-1853): son of James Warre; served under the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War (1808-1812) and rose to Lieutenant-General
• The Warrior name was branded on the casks of Warre's finest Reserve Ports from the firm's earliest days; shipped continuously since the 1750s, Warrior is the oldest Port brand in the world

Andrew James ('AJ') Symington arrived in Porto from Scotland in 1882, aged 19. After a short stint at Graham's and then running his own small Port shipping operation, he became a partner in Warre & Co. in 1905 and sole owner in 1908. In 1912 he and George A. Warre, senior partner in Dow's Port (Silva & Cosens), swapped shares, each taking a stake in the other's company. The Symington-Warre partnership lasted until 1961, when the Symingtons became sole owners of both Dow's and Warre's. Warre's is 100% owned by the Symingtons and is part of Symington Family Estates, which also owns Graham's, Dow's and Cockburn's. Six members of the family, five of them from the 13th generation in the Port trade, take part in Warre's day-to-day management.

• 1905: AJ Symington becomes a partner in Warre & Co.; 1908: sole owner
• 1912: share swap between AJ Symington and George A. Warre, senior partner in Dow's
• 1961: the Symingtons become sole owners of both Dow's and Warre's
• Symington Family Estates also owns Graham's, Dow's and Cockburn's
• Six Symington family members, five from the 13th generation in the Port trade, work in Warre's day-to-day management

Three estates supply most of Warre's Vintage and other premium Ports. Quinta da Cavadinha (46 ha) lies in the Pinhão Valley: its main vineyard sits in a bowl 180 metres above sea level formed by a sharp bend in the Pinhão River, and terraces climb to 440 metres on south-east and east-facing slopes. The estate's late ripening cycle makes Cavadinha Ports fresh and elegant with very fine aromas, and the lower vineyards along the river give tea-rose and violet aromas. Quinta do Retiro Antigo (40 ha), in the Rio Torto Valley, has some of the oldest vineyards in the Douro on some of the narrowest stone terraces built in the region; 73% of the vineyard is planted on early-19th-century terraces, so yields are very low and the wines concentrated, with powerful tannins. Quinta da Telhada (35 ha), acquired by Warre's in 2006, is a remote river-side vineyard well east of Quinta do Vesuvio and 25 kilometres from the Spanish border; low-yielding Touriga Nacional makes up 47% of its vines. Warre's also draws on Quinta do Alvito, Quinta das Netas and other vineyards long associated with the firm and owned privately by members of the Symington family. The experimental vineyard at Quinta da Cavadinha, first planted in 1997, researches clonal selection and compares grape varieties and rootstocks under identical conditions.

• Quinta da Cavadinha (46 ha): Pinhão Valley, 180-440 m, south-east and east-facing; fresh, elegant wines with fine aromas
• Quinta do Retiro Antigo (40 ha): Rio Torto Valley, 73% on early-19th-century stone terraces; concentrated wines with powerful tannins
• Quinta da Telhada (35 ha): acquired 2006, remote site 25 km from the Spanish border, 47% Touriga Nacional
• Quinta do Alvito and Quinta das Netas: Symington family vineyards, privately owned, that also supply Warre's
• Experimental vineyard at Quinta da Cavadinha, first planted 1997: clonal selection, rootstock and variety research

Warre's describes its signature style as floral, fresh and elegant, a reflection of its higher-altitude vineyards. Some Warre's Port is still trodden in stone lagares; the Upper Douro is one of the last places in the world to keep traditional treading, because it continues to produce some of the best Ports. Treading lagares need manpower, which is increasingly scarce in the Upper Douro, so Warre's winemaking team developed the world's first purpose-built automated treading machine, the 'automatic lagar': a low, square stainless steel tank whose mechanical treading pistons replicate the action of the human foot. Trials with the prototype began in the 1998 vintage and continued in 1999, and by the 2003 harvest six automatic lagares had been fitted in the newly refurbished winery at Quinta da Cavadinha.

• House style: shaped by the higher altitude of Warre's vineyards
• Some Warre's Port is still trodden in traditional stone lagares
• Warre's winemaking team developed the world's first purpose-built automated treading machine
• Trials ran in the 1998 and 1999 vintages; six automatic lagares were in place at Quinta da Cavadinha by the 2003 harvest

Warre's reputation for Vintage Port began with its late 19th- and early 20th-century declarations and carried into the 21st century with the 2000, 2007, 2011 and 2016 Vintage Ports. The 2016 placed No.14 in Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2018, the highest-ranked Portuguese wine that year. The 1970 Vintage Port marked the company's 300th anniversary. For the 350th anniversary in 2020, Warre's released 350 bottles of its 1960 Vintage Port, sourced from Quinta do Retiro and left untouched in the cellars for 60 years; Symington Family Estates regards it as one of the classic 20th-century declarations. Roy Hersh of For the Love of Port rated the 1977 Vintage Port 92 points. Wine Enthusiast's Mark Golodetz rated the 1987 Colheita 93 out of 100, citing 'flavours of ginger, clove and butterscotch, combined with a youthful note of black cherry.'

• 2016 Vintage Port: No.14 in Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2018, the highest-ranked Portuguese wine that year
• 1970 Vintage Port: marked the firm's 300th anniversary
• 1960 Vintage Port: 350 bottles released for the 350th anniversary in 2020, from Quinta do Retiro
• 1977 Vintage Port: 92 points from Roy Hersh, For the Love of Port
• 1987 Colheita: 93/100 from Wine Enthusiast's Mark Golodetz

Warrior, the oldest continuously shipped Port brand, is a classic full-bodied Port drawn from Quinta da Cavadinha and Quinta do Retiro, served at the end of a meal with chocolate, chocolate desserts, strong cheeses and nuts. Warre's classic Vintage Ports come from its finest quintas, Cavadinha and Retiro, in the Pinhão and Rio Torto valleys; in non-declared years the best of Cavadinha's wines are bottled as single-quinta Cavadinha Vintage Port. The Late Bottled Vintage is aged only in wood and filtered before bottling, so it is ready to drink on release; the Bottled-Matured LBV is bottled without fining or filtering after its time in wood and then aged further in bottle at Warre's lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia. Colheitas are single-harvest wines matured in wood for seven or more years. In 1999 Warre's launched the Otima 10 Year Tawny in a modern clear-glass bottle, the first time Port had been presented that way; Warre's describes Otima as the most successful new development in the Port trade in over 25 years. Heritage Ruby, aged for an average of three years in seasoned oak, White Port, fermented off the skins for a more delicate style, and Tawny Port complete the range.

• Warrior: the oldest continuously shipped Port brand (since the 1750s), from Quinta da Cavadinha and Quinta do Retiro
• Vintage Port from the finest quintas and, in non-declared years, single-quinta Cavadinha Vintage Port
• Late Bottled Vintage (wood-aged, filtered) and the unfiltered Bottled-Matured LBV (aged in wood, then in bottle)
• Colheitas: single-harvest wines matured in wood for seven or more years
• Otima 10 and 20 Year Old Tawnies: Otima 10 launched in 1999 in a modern clear-glass bottle; Warre's describes Otima as the trade's most successful new development in over 25 years
• Heritage Ruby, White Port and Tawny Port complete the range

Primary sources (producer's own site, warre.com, and parent company site, symington.com): https://www.warre.com/, https://www.warre.com/origins, https://www.warre.com/the-warres, https://www.warre.com/william-warre, https://www.warre.com/350-anniversary, https://www.warre.com/symington-family, https://www.warre.com/winemaking, https://www.warre.com/vineyards, https://www.warre.com/quinta-cavadinha, https://www.warre.com/quinta-retiro-antigo, https://www.warre.com/quinta-telhada, https://www.warre.com/wine/vintage/12, https://www.warre.com/wine/cavadinha-vintage/13, https://www.warre.com/wine/otima/15, https://www.warre.com/wine/warrior/17, https://www.warre.com/wine/bottled-matured-lbv/14, https://www.warre.com/wine/late-bottled-vintage/22, https://www.warre.com/wine/colheitas/16, https://www.warre.com/wine/white/20, https://www.warre.com/wine/tawny/19, https://www.warre.com/wine/ruby/18, https://www.symington.com/brand/warre-s-port, https://www.symington.com/post/warre-s-port-celebrates-350th-anniversary, https://www.symington.com/content/symington-today. Secondary sources: For the Love of Port (fortheloveofport.com/warres/); Wine Enthusiast score quoted on warre.com/wine/colheitas. Last verified 2026-10-12. Where sources disagree, the producer's or parent company's current pages govern; see conflicts.json. Spot something off? Submit a correction to Wine with Seth.