Offley Forrester
Forrester & C:a., S.A.
Founded | 1737 |
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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 |
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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) |
House | Forrester | Vintage | 1926 |
Colour | Almost as a tawny in colour. | Number of tastings | 1 |
Bouquet | Pharmacy, old hospital and burned sugar in the nose. | Score range | 16.75 - 16.75 |
Taste | Medium 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 finish | Average score | |
Last tasted | 23rd December 2016 | Point this date | 16.75 |
Comment | At 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 | Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
House | Offley | Vintage | 1955 |
Colour | Mature yellow colour. | Number of tastings | 1 |
Bouquet | Ginger, cinnamon, Christmas raisin and burned sugar in the nose. | Score range | 16.00 - 16.00 |
Taste | Medium body. Mature and sweet with flavour of dried fruit. An elegant and complex finish. Lovely port. | Average score | |
Last tasted | 24th April 2011 | Point this date | 16.00 |
Comment | At home with the family. | Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
House | Offley | Vintage | 1987 |
Colour | Dark blue in colour with a yellow rim. | Number of tastings | 1 |
Bouquet | Berry and dark cherry in the nose. | Score range | 15.00 - 15.00 |
Taste | Medium body. Immature and promising. Elegant and balanced with a nice finish. | Average score | |
Last tasted | 28th October 1997 | Point this date | 15.00 |
Comment | At the Port Wine Festival. This maybe the same wine as Morgado. | Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
House | Offley | Vintage | 2016 |
Colour | Very dark almost black in colour. | Number of tastings | 1 |
Bouquet | Loaded with fruit and dark berry, specially blackberry, blue berry and mulberry in the nose. | ||
Taste | Medium 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 tasted | 9th May 2018 | Rating this date | Very Impressive |
Comment | At the Big Fortified Tasting in London, Great Britain. Port so young we evaluate only as : Good – Very good- Impressive – Very Impressive | Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
House | Offley | Vintage | 2018 |
Colour | Dark ruby in colour. | Number of tastings | 1 |
Bouquet | Dark berries and mature fruit in the nose. | ||
Taste | Medium 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 tasted | 31st March 2022 | Rating this date | Very Good/Impressive |
Comment | Tasted at the Big Fortified Tasting in London, Great Britain. Port so young we evaluate only as : Good – Very good- Impressive – Very Impressive | Tasters | SAI, JB |