2008 Warre’s Late Bottled Vintage Port

2008 Warre’s Late Bottled Vintage Port

2008 Warre’s Late Bottled Vintage Port Deep-colored,dark red center with just a hint of age showing through on the dark red rim. The backbone provided by the large Touriga Nacional component is evident in the fragrant, floral nose of roses and violets. The palate is generous and sumptuous with black fruit and licorice flavors, balanced by schist tannins and the fresh acidity typical of Warre’s bottle-matured wines, giving them hallmark balance and elegance, as well as structure. This wine may be broached now, although it will repay keeping for up to a further decade

The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro’s best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.

The history of the Warre family in Portugal dates back to William Warre, who was born in India in 1706, where his parents and grandparents were long established members of the East India Company. In 1729, he arrived in Portugal and became a partner in the export company, Messrs. Clark, Thornton & Warre, which exported Portuguese wine among other goods. By the close of the 18th century, Warre’s had become one of the leading companies in the Port wine trade. His grandson, another William Warre, continued and grew the business while also maintaining an outstanding military career, contributing substantially towards the recovery of Portugal’s independence.