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Est. 2011

Offley Forrester

Forrester & C:a., S.A.

Founded 1737
Owner Sogrape
Vineyards Quinta da Boa Vista
Vintage Port Brands Offley, Forrester, Offley Boa Vista, Rainha Santa, Morgado

The foundation of the company is officially recognized as being 1737. There are no documents that show any dates before that, but the current idea is that there is some evidence of its existence in 1710. The Offley family has its origin before 1517, the year that William Offley was elected Lord Mayor and Sheriff of Stafford, while his brother was Lord Mayor in Chester. In 1556 his son William was elected Knight Man and became Lord Mayor of London. The succession in the Offley family continued through the dynasties of the Tudor and Stuart families, keeping high civilian positions, also being high noticeable their links to the Merchant Taylors company. In 1737, the seventh William Offley entered the company that got the name Etty Offley & Ca., in Oporto. From then on, new partners have been in and out, but the name Offley remained. Linked to Offley, appear the names Campion, Brooks, Hesketh, Webber and Cramp, and finally in 1803, an Offley became part of the company.

The first Forrester to have arrived in Oporto, was a Scotsman from Perth, James Forrester. He entered the company in 1803, and it became to be called Offley Forrester. A great person was his nephew Joseph James Forrester, who joined the company in 1831. Joseph was a genius, not only as a wine expert, but also because of his great personality, which allowed him to correct the abuse coming from the existence of a Port Wine monopoly. Perhaps his more noticeable job was in the cartography field. Until then, there were no maps of the Douro region, and he decided to end this situation by drawing a map from the Spanish border until Oporto, which was recognized as being precise in all aspects. Despite this work having taken twelve years to make, he did not stop and started a no less important task - the geological studies of the Port Wine region and the elaboration of its respective map. By an irony of the destiny, in 1861, this giant was swallowed by the river he loved so much. He had many insignias, the most important of them was the title Baron of Forrester, granted by the king of Portugal, and many other Portuguese awards and medals. He was also distinguished with insignias in Spain, Italy, France and Germany. His sons stayed in the company until 1924.

In 1962 Sandeman bought Offley and 1983 Martini bought 50% of the shares. When Martini a few years later bought 20% of the shares in Sogrape it was paid by handling over Forrester’s shares and Forrester came under the command of Ferreira. Sogrape took charge of Offley in 1997.

The Quinta Boa Vista estate overlooking the river Douro is one of the best-known ‘Quintas’ in the Port wine district. Grapes were bought from this quinta since the 1820s and acquired this property in 1866 from Barao de Viamonte. There, the Baron of Forrester planted his vines using the best varieties of grapes, which were specially selected for vintage type.

Offley Boa Vista Vintages:1866, 1868, 1870, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1885, 1887, 1888, 1889, 1890, 1892, 1894, 1896, 1897, 1902, 1904, 1908, 1910, 1912, 1919, 1920, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1929, 1931 (bottled by Delamore), 1933 (bottled by Delamore), 1934*, 1935, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1950, 1954, 1955, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2007, 2011
Forrester Vintages:1926
Offley Vintages:1830, 1834, 1837, 1840, 1842, 1844, 1847, 1851, 1853, 1858, 1860, 1861, 1863, 1878, 1881, 1884, 1900, 1927, 1954, 1955, 1987, 2016, 2018
Morgado Vintages:1987
Rainha Santa Vintages:1980 (bottled by Rodrigues Pinho), 1982 (bottled by Rodrigues Pintho), 1983 (bottled by Sogrape), 1985 (bottled by Rodrigues Pintho), 1987 (bottled by Forrester), 1994 (bottled by Forrester), 1995 (bottled by Forrester)

Vintage Port tasting notes:

HouseForresterVintage1926
ColourAlmost as a tawny in colour.Number of tastings1
BouquetPharmacy, old hospital and burned sugar in the nose.Score range16.75 - 16.75
TasteMedium body. Mature but with high acidity as in colheita but balanced anyhow. Quite elegant. Burned sugar and butterscotch in taste. Very dry but easy to drink and enjoy. Maybe a little short finishAverage score
Last tasted23rd December 2016Point this date16.75
CommentAt home with the family.
The name was Forrester Vintage 1926 No. 26 and it taste as it was a Colheita and we believe that this was a Colheita and not a vintage despite the name vintage
TastersSAI, JB, SS
HouseOffleyVintage1955
ColourMature yellow colour.Number of tastings1
BouquetGinger, cinnamon, Christmas raisin and burned sugar in the nose.Score range16.00 - 16.00
TasteMedium body. Mature and sweet with flavour of dried fruit. An elegant and complex finish. Lovely port.Average score
Last tasted24th April 2011Point this date16.00
CommentAt home with the family.
TastersSAI, JB, SS
HouseOffleyVintage1987
ColourDark blue in colour with a yellow rim.Number of tastings1
BouquetBerry and dark cherry in the nose.Score range15.00 - 15.00
TasteMedium body. Immature and promising. Elegant and balanced with a nice finish.Average score
Last tasted28th October 1997Point this date15.00
CommentAt the Port Wine Festival.
This maybe the same wine as Morgado.
TastersSAI, JB, SS
HouseOffleyVintage2016
ColourVery dark almost black in colour.Number of tastings1
BouquetLoaded with fruit and dark berry, specially blackberry, blue berry and mulberry in the nose.
TasteMedium body. Immature and loaded with dark berry and fruit and also nice tannin. Balanced and with blackberry, mulberry and blueberry in taste. Nice finish and this port will be exciting to follow in the future.
Last tasted9th May 2018Rating this dateVery Impressive
CommentAt the Big Fortified Tasting in London, Great Britain.

Port so young we evaluate only as : Good – Very good- Impressive – Very Impressive
TastersSAI, JB, SS
HouseOffleyVintage2018
ColourDark ruby in colour.Number of tastings1
BouquetDark berries and mature fruit in the nose.
TasteMedium body. Round and lovely tannins. Very drinkable and a modern style of port but will of course be better. Balanced and tasty with a pronounced tannic finish which is quite exciting and promising. Will be interesting to follow.
Last tasted31st March 2022Rating this dateVery Good/Impressive
CommentTasted at the Big Fortified Tasting in London, Great Britain.

Port so young we evaluate only as : Good – Very good- Impressive – Very Impressive
TastersSAI, JB

Last tasted:

21st September
Pocas Jr 2001
19th September
Cockburn 1983
Delaforce 1992
Dow 2000
Fonseca 1994
Graham 2003
Quinta do Cachao
Messias 1983
Quinta do Pego 2000
Quinta do Vale Meao 2003
Rozes 1994
Taylor 1992

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