Butler Nephew
Christie's Port Wine producer & shipper, Lda
| Founded |
1730 |
| Owner |
Stephen Christie |
| Vineyards |
Quinta Dona Mafalda |
This House was founded by John Nash in Burmester, Nash & Co in 1730. In 1789 they dissolved partnership and James Butler was taken as partner and the firm became Nach, Butler & Co. Twenty years later J Butler took Mr. Nash nephew Mr. Tynedale as partner och the firm change name again to Butler, Tyndale & Co. In 1829 James Butler's nephew Robert Butler joined and the name then became Butler & Nephew. When Samuel Dixon had been director of the house in 1854 they became well-known for their exclusive port. After the Second World War the house was owned by Gonzalez Byass and later Porto Vasconcellos took charge of the firm. In 1979 Stephen Christie bought the Gonzalez Byass business in Portugal to which Vasconcellos and Butler-Nephew belongs. Later on - in 1989 - Sandeman bought a large part of the stock. The brand however was still in the hands of Stephen Christie and today the brand is used again, this time appearing in the portfolio of Christie's wines.
| Butler Nephew Vintages: | 1851, 1870, 1872, 1896*, 1900*, 1904*, 1908*, 1912*, 1920*, 1922, 1924, 1925, 1927, 1932, 1934, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964*, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1975, 1982, 2003, 2017, 2020 |
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Vintage Port tasting notes:
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 1925 |
| Colour | Yellow and mature, very beautiful in colour. | Number of tastings | 1 |
| Bouquet | Candy, toffee, creme caramel, cream candy and much, much more in the nose. Lovely bouquet indeed! | Score range | 17.00 - 17.00 |
| Taste | Lovely body. Mature and peaking and absolute on top and will not be better, but with lovely old acidity! Balanced and very tasty with lots of things in the mouth such as candy, crème candy crème caramel and son on. Very elegant and complex with a lovely and quite long and very attractive finish. A lovely port indeed! | Average score | |
| Last tasted | 23rd December 2025 | Point this date | 17.00 |
| Comment | Tasted at home with the family.
This bottled looked wrong for being from the 1920’s, it rather looked like a younger bottle from around the 1970’s. So the bottle might be fake.
| Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 1932 |
| Colour | Light tawny in colour. | Number of tastings | 1 |
| Bouquet | Fudge, toffee and some burned sugar. | Score range | 14.75 - 14.75 |
| Taste | A light port, hardly medium bodied. Quite sweet. Fudge in taste. Quite elegant and balanced with a nice finish bur we hope it has been better. | Average score | |
| Last tasted | 25th December 2012 | Point this date | 14.75 |
| Comment | At home with the family.
| Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 1955 |
| Colour | Mature tawny colour. | Number of tastings | 2 |
| Bouquet | Old nose of pharmacy but also burned sugar and fudge. Still quite complex and enjoyable. | Score range | 15.25 - 16.00 |
| Taste | Medium body. Fully mature and maybe a little old but still balanced with old acidity and quite complex. Attractive finish. Lovely old port anyhow! | Average score | 15.63 |
| Last tasted | 16th November 2017 | Point this date | 15.25 |
| Comment | At the Wine Society 18% Great Tasting in Malmö.
In 2017 this vintage took part in a Great Tasting in the Wine Society 18%. For points and ranking see Great Tastings. | Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler Nephew | Vintage | 1960 |
| Colour | Wonderful mature, yellow in colour. | Number of tastings | 1 |
| Bouquet | Lovely bouquet with toffee, cream candy, fudge, butterscotch, raisin, mint, crème carrel and lots of other things in the nose | Score range | |
| Taste | Lovely body. Mature and peaking and still with some balanced, round and excellent acidity. Will not be better but is wonderful and very tasty today with a lovely, long, very attractive and elegant finish. Just drink it and love it! | Average score | |
| Last tasted | 28th May 2023 | Point this date | 17.00 |
| Comment | Tasted at home with the family.
| Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 1963 |
| Colour | Very mature yellow, almost tawny in colour. | Number of tastings | 1 |
| Bouquet | Spiciness with ginger, vanilla, cinnamon and much more in the nose. | Score range | 17.40 - 17.40 |
| Taste | Lovely body. Mature and peaking – absolutely on the top. Balanced and very complex port. Very tasty with lots of different tastes such as ginger, cinnamon, vanilla and so on. A seductive, elegant and very long finish. Astonishing port indeed! | Average score | |
| Last tasted | 17th January 2019 | Point this date | 17.40 |
| Comment | At the Wine Society 18% Tasting in Malmö.
| Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 1964 |
| Colour | Yellow and mature in colour. | Number of tastings | 1 |
| Bouquet | Chocolate, cacao, rum raisin, toffee, coffee, candy and old grocery shop | Score range | 16.50 - 16.50 |
| Taste | Medium body. Mature and peaking with lots of cacao, dark chocolate, coffee, candy in taste. Balanced and quite elegant with a lovely and quite long finish with some old acidity. | Average score | |
| Last tasted | 1st August 2024 | Point this date | 16.50 |
| Comment | Tasted at home with the family.
| Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 1966 |
| Colour | Beautiful mature yellow in colour. | Number of tastings | 1 |
| Bouquet | Some toffee, cacao chocolate and candy but also some cranberries and perhaps some oddities but they left with some time in the glass. | Score range | 16.40 - 16.40 |
| Taste | Medium body. Mature and peaking. But maybe some unbalanced acidity. This is questionable however. Quite elegant and tasty with a long and rather seductive finish. | Average score | |
| Last tasted | 31st December 2019 | Point this date | 16.40 |
| Comment | Tasted at home with the family.
Some disagreement about the bouquet.
| Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 1970 |
| Colour | Pale ruby almost garnet with a mature and yellow rim in the quite beautiful colour. | Number of tastings | 2 |
| Bouquet | Candy, cream candy, herbs, mint, eucalyptus, ginger, cacao and chocolate in the nose. | Score range | 15.90 - 17.00 |
| Taste | Medium body. Mature and peaking. Wonderful taste of cacao, candy, herbs and other things in the mouth. Balanced and elegant port with a quite long and rather attractive finish. | Average score | 16.45 |
| Last tasted | 3rd October 2025 | Point this date | 15.90 |
| Comment | Tasted in London with Port friends.
| Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 1975 |
| Colour | Mature yellow colour. | Number of tastings | 1 |
| Bouquet | Ether and pharmacy in the nose. However, develops in glass. | Score range | 16.00 - 16.00 |
| Taste | Medium body. Mature and even a little old. Delicious, elegant and very tasty with a balanced and still attractive finish. | Average score | |
| Last tasted | 16th March 2006 | Point this date | 16.00 |
| Comment | At the Wine Society 18% Great Tasting in Malmö.
This bottle belongs to Gerda and Ole Vesterdal Private Collection.
In 2006 this vintage took part in a Great Tasting in the Wine Society 18%. For points and ranking see Great Tastings. | Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 1982 |
| Colour | Very dark blue with no sign of maturation in the colour. | Number of tastings | 3 |
| Bouquet | Fruit, dark berry suck as mulberry, dark cherry, blackberry but also some, chocolate, cacao and maybe spiciness in the nose. | Score range | 15.25 - 16.40 |
| Taste | Medium body. Easy to drink and rather mature in taste in spite of the colour and with some round tannins. Balanced and rather enjoyable cacao, chocolate and maybe some spiciness in taste with a strait finish. Strange port! Quite massive but without the complexity and elegance we expected | Average score | 15.88 |
| Last tasted | 21st April 2021 | Point this date | 16.00 |
| Comment | Tasted at home in Second International Online Vintage Tasting with our German Port Friends from World of Port.
This was a strange 1982. We all believed that the port was from the 21st century when we tasted it 2017.
| Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 2003 |
| Colour | Yellow and mature in colour. | Number of tastings | 8 |
| Bouquet | Toffee, fudges, candy, some old grocery shop with herbs, cacao, mint and roasted coffee in the nose. | Score range | 15.25 - 15.90 |
| Taste | Medium body. Mature and peaking. Sweet but balanced. Very elegant and easy to drink and like. Toffee, milk chocolate and cacao in taste with a lovely, quite long and elegant finish. | Average score | 15.65 |
| Last tasted | 2nd March 2024 | Point this date | 15.50 |
| Comment | Tasted at the Port Wine Fair in Roskilde, Denmark.
| Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 2017 |
| Colour | Still quite dark in colour. | Number of tastings | 8 |
| Bouquet | Still some dark berry such as mulberry and black berry as well as cherry. but also some vanilla, cacao, dark chocolate and toffee in the nose. | Score range | 15.75 - 15.90 |
| Taste | Medium body and dry. Very easy to drink and enjoy and almost mature with quite a lot of light and elegant tannins. Cherry and dark berries in taste, but also some cacao and chocolate. Balanced and with an elegant, quite lovely and rather long finish. | Average score | 15.86 |
| Last tasted | 28th February 2026 | Point this date | 15.75 |
| Comment | Tasted at the Port Wine Fair in Roskilde, Denmark
| Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |
| House | Butler-Nephew | Vintage | 2020 |
| Colour | Still dark ruby in colour. | Number of tastings | 7 |
| Bouquet | Dark berries such as black cherry, black berry and mature fruit and some coffee and toffee in the nose. | Score range | 15.40 - 15.75 |
| Taste | Medium body. Lovely round tannins and will improve a lot but is enjoyable and drinkable already now to drink and enjoy. Balanced, elegant and quite complex with a lovely dry finish. Will be interesting to follow. | Average score | 15.58 |
| Last tasted | 28th February 2026 | Point this date | 15.40 |
| Comment | Tasted at the Port Wine Fair in Roskilde, Denmark.
| Tasters | SAI, JB, SS |