Warre's Port

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

• 1670: William Burgoyne and John Jackson found Burgoyne & Jackson in northern Portugal
• 1718-1723: firm trades successively as John Clark, then Clark & Thornton
• 1729: William Warre (born India, 1706) joins; firm becomes Messrs. Clark, Thornton & Warre
• 1791: Warre & Sons ships 2,937 pipes of Port, about 10% of the 30,000-plus pipes shipped 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 Factory House in Porto. His descendant, another William Warre (1784-1853), is the family's best-known figure: a Porto-born officer in the Anglo-Portuguese army, he served alongside the Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal Beresford through the Peninsular War (1808-1812), supplying Wellington with Port from the family firm along the way. 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 old Port. He rose to Lieutenant-General and received honours from both Portugal and England for his role in the campaign.

• William Warre (1706-1773): first Warre in the Port trade, arrived in Portugal 1729
• William Warre (1784-1853): great-nephew who served the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular War (1808-1812) and rose to Lieutenant-General
• The Warrior Reserve Port, first shipped in the 1750s, is named for the family's military connection and is the oldest continuously shipped Port brand

Andrew James ('AJ') Symington arrived in Porto from Scotland in 1882, aged 19. After working at Graham's and running his own small Port shipping operation, he became a partner in Warre & Co. in 1905 and sole owner in 1908. In 1912, George A. Warre, senior partner in Dow's Port (Silva & Cosens), and AJ Symington conducted a share swap in which each took shares 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. Today Warre's is 100% owned by the Symingtons, part of Symington Family Estates, which also owns Graham's, Dow's and Cockburn's. Currently six members of the Symington family, five of them from the 13th generation in the Port trade, are actively involved 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 (Dow's senior partner)
• 1961: 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 Port-trade generation, are currently active in Warre's day-to-day management

Warre's premium Ports are drawn mainly from three estates. Quinta da Cavadinha (46 ha) sits in the Pinhao Valley, with vines from 180 to 440 metres elevation on south-east and east-facing slopes; its late-ripening cycle and altitude give Cavadinha wines their characteristic freshness and elegance, with fine tea-rose and violet aromas from the lower vineyards near the Pinhao River. Quinta do Retiro Antigo (40 ha) lies in the Rio Torto Valley, with some of the oldest vineyards in the Douro on narrow, early-19th-century stone terraces; about 73% of the vineyard is planted on these terraces, producing low yields and concentrated, powerfully tannic wines. Quinta da Telhada (35 ha), acquired by Warre's in 2006, is a remote river-side vineyard well east of Quinta do Vesuvio and about 25 kilometres from the Spanish border, notable for its high proportion of Touriga Nacional. Warre's also draws grapes from Quinta do Alvito and Quinta das Netas, vineyards long associated with Warre's and owned privately by members of the Symington family. Warre's experimental vineyard at Quinta da Cavadinha, planted in 1997, researches clonal selection, rootstocks and grape varieties under identical conditions.

• Quinta da Cavadinha (46 ha): Pinhao Valley, 180-440m elevation, south-east/east-facing; fresh, elegant, floral wines
• Quinta do Retiro Antigo (40 ha): Rio Torto Valley, about 73% on early-19th-century stone terraces; concentrated, powerfully tannic wines
• Quinta da Telhada (35 ha): acquired 2006, remote site near the Spanish border, high proportion of Touriga Nacional
• Quinta do Alvito and Quinta das Netas: privately owned Symington family vineyards that also supply Warre's
• Experimental vineyard at Quinta da Cavadinha, planted 1997, researches clonal selection and rootstocks

Warre's signature style is floral, fresh and elegant, reflecting the higher altitude of its vineyards. Some of Warre's Port is still made by treading in stone lagares, a method the Upper Douro is among the last places in the world to maintain, because it continues to produce some of the best Ports. To address the difficulty of finding enough manpower for traditional treading, Warre's winemaking team developed the world's first purpose-built automated treading machine, the 'automatic lagar', a low, square stainless steel tank with mechanical treading pistons that replicate the action of a human foot. Trials began during the 1998 vintage and continued through the 1999 vintage; by the 2003 harvest, six automatic lagares had been fitted in the newly refurbished winery at Quinta da Cavadinha.

• House style: floral, fresh and elegant, reflecting the higher altitude of Warre's vineyards
• Warre's still treads some Port by foot in traditional stone lagares
• Warre's winemaking team developed the world's first purpose-built automated treading machine
• Trials ran during the 1998 and 1999 vintages; six automatic lagares were fitted at Quinta da Cavadinha by the 2003 harvest

Warre's reputation for Vintage Port began with fine declarations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it has continued into the 21st century with the 2000, 2007, 2011 and 2016 vintages. The 2016 Vintage Port was awarded the No.14 spot in Wine Spectator's Top 100 Wines of 2018, the highest ranking Portuguese wine that year. The 1970 Vintage Port commemorated the company's 300th anniversary. For Warre's 350th anniversary in 2020, the company released 350 bottles of its 1960 Vintage Port, sourced from Quinta do Retiro and regarded as one of the classic 20th-century declarations, after ageing quietly in the Symingtons' cellars for 60 years. The 1977 Vintage Port was rated 92 points by wine writer Roy Hersh of For the Love of Port. Warre's Colheita 1987 was rated 93 out of 100 by Wine Enthusiast's Mark Golodetz, who described it as showing 'flavours of ginger, clove and butterscotch, combined with a youthful note of black cherry.'

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

Warre's range spans the full spectrum of Port styles. Warrior, the oldest continuously shipped Port brand, drawn from Quinta da Cavadinha and Quinta do Retiro, is a classic full-bodied style traditionally recommended with chocolate, chocolate desserts, strong cheeses and nuts. The Vintage Port and, in undeclared years, the single-quinta Cavadinha Vintage Port sit at the top of the range; Late Bottled Vintage and the unfiltered Bottled-Matured LBV are both aged in wood before bottling, with the Bottled-Matured LBV also given extended bottle age 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 an elegant, modern clear-glass bottle, the first time Port had been presented that way; Otima is credited by Warre's as the most successful new development in the Port trade in over 25 years. The range also includes Heritage Ruby, aged for about three years in seasoned oak, White Port, fermented off the skins for a lighter style, and Tawny Port.

• Warrior: oldest continuously shipped Port brand (since the 1750s), drawn from Quinta da Cavadinha and Quinta do Retiro
• Vintage Port and single-quinta Cavadinha Vintage Port: the top of the range
• Late Bottled Vintage and the unfiltered, wood- and bottle-aged Bottled-Matured LBV
• Colheitas: single-harvest wines matured in wood seven or more years
• Otima 10 and 20 Year Old Tawnies: launched in modern clear-glass bottles, credited by Warre's as the trade's most successful new development in over 25 years
• Heritage Ruby, White Port and Tawny Port round out 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 2026-09-14. 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.