🍷 Warre's Warrior

Warre's Warrior is a Reserve Ruby Port from the house Warre's of Vila Nova de Gaia.

According to the house, it is the oldest Port brand in the world, shipped continuously since the 1750s; the grapes come from Quinta da Cavadinha and Quinta do Retiro.

Warre's is a Port house whose firm, according to the house, was established in 1670 by two English merchants; the first Warre joined in 1729, and it now belongs to the Symington family.

Port (Porto) is a protected designation of origin of the Douro Demarcated Region in northern Portugal; the name has been in the EU register since 24 December 1991. Fermentation is stopped by adding grape spirit of 77 % vol approved by the IVDP, so the wine keeps natural sugar: Port has 19–22 % alcohol (light dry white from 16.5 %) and at least 17.5 g/l of sugar. The region is divided into Baixo Corgo, Cima Corgo and Douro Superior, with vineyards on steep terraced slopes.

Under IVDP rules, the Reserve category applies to Ruby, Tawny and White Ports of higher quality: Reserve Tawny and Reserve White need at least 6 years in wood, while Reserve Ruby has no minimum but must be approved by the IVDP.

According to the IVDP, Port comes as Ruby, Tawny, White and Rosé, with special categories — Reserve, LBV, Vintage, Colheita, wines with an age indication (10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 80 years) and Crusted. Every lot is checked by the IVDP tasting chamber.

Under EU rules, a wine label must show the designation of origin, the actual alcoholic strength, allergens such as sulphites, and the name of the bottler. The word Porto on the label guarantees that the wine was made in the Douro Demarcated Region under the designation’s rules.

Why it matters to you. The category on the label (Ruby, Tawny, LBV, Vintage and so on) tells you how the wine was aged, not how strong it is. The WHO reminds: there is no safe level of alcohol.