Butler & Nephew

[jdaw1]

Butler & Nephew

What happened to Butler Nephew? There is mention on the web of B&N being bought by Vasconcellos, who also don’t have a website. What happened to either of them? And is the name correctly written with a ‟&”, ‟and”, or neither?

[Alex Bridgeman]

There seems to be a little confusion over the correct name, but the various texts that I have referred to either use "Butler Nephew" or "Butler, Nephew". None that I have seen have "Butler & Nephew" but I hasten to add that I have not seen any labels from actual bottles.

The company was founded by Nash of Burmester & Nash, who took James Butler into partnership in 1789. Butler took over the company on Nash's death and was joined by John Tyndale (a nephew of James) with the name of the firm becoming "Butler, Tyndale & Co".

In 1809, they were joined by a Mr Naylor and the company name became Butler, Naylor & Co. Some time later, James Butler admitted another nephew of his (Robert Butler) as a partner into the firm and the name finally changed to Butler, Nephew & Co. In 1845 Samuel Dixon was made a partner and became the sole owner on the death of the two Butlers and Naylor. On his death, the firm became owned by Dixon's three sons.

Some time after WW2, Butler Nephew was acquired by Gonzales Byass, who stopped using the name. In 1983, the Gonzales Byass port interests and stocks were sold off to Vasconcelos. Butler, Nephew was officially disbanded in 1989.

[jdaw1]

Alex: you’re good. Who are Vasconcellos, and why no website for them?

‟Butler Nephew & Co.”, according to a graphic on home.swipnet.se/~w-33067/port/4produ.htm:

[Alex Bridgeman]

Vasconcelos are something of a mystery, privately owned by a family (the Christie family - no idea if they are connected to the auction house in any way) who seem keen to keep a low profile. There is an association between the Christie family and the port trade that goes back several generations but the first port that was "shipped" by them was through the acquisition of Gonzalez Byass in 1983.

They sold their stocks of port on to Sandeman in 1989, so their activities as shippers was rather limited in duration. However, various family members are still associated with the trade as brokers and agents for various shippers.

You are throwing me some challenging ones today!

[DRT]

Vasconcelos is still going strong. They have a very modern looking lodge in VNG and continue to blend ports, mostly tawny (I think) using stocks purchased from port producers. They do not produce any juice of their own. They just blend and ship.

I have a bottle of their 40 yr old tawny, purchased from their lodge in VNG in 2006, which will now need to put in an appearance at an Offline

Derek

[Andy Velebil]

I havn't had the 40 year old...but every other Vasconcelos I've had was terrible. I totally avoid that house now.

[DRT]

I'll save it for your trip to the UK in October

I tasted it whilst I was there and I remember it being very good. I didn't think much of their other stuff.

Derek

[Pochetron]

Hi guys !

Sorry i don't speak well english
I need help to have informations about a bottle Butler nephew & co Alto Douro Tawny Port http://www.hostingpics.net/viewer.php?i ... bottle.jpg.
I don't find informations on the internet but the taste of it is very delicious. a winemaker friend told me that it's a good product but he don't know give me more informations
So it's the reason of my presence here, i hope you can help me ! Cheers
See you !

[Andy Velebil]

The picture seems to indicate, by the lack of any dates, this is a non-vintage tawny port. Probably a basic or reserve Tawny Port (the two lowest categories of quality).

It appears to have some bottle age to it, but that is not normally a good thing for a basic Tawny Port. While it still may be drinkable, I would not hold my breath it will be fantastic. The next question most people have is value. Since I don't know where you live, a rough estimate would probably be around the $15-25 range here in the USA.

[SCP]

I believe that the Sampler might be the only supplier of Butler and Nephew ports in the UK. They sell 10, 20 and 40-year tawnies and I think also had a 2003 vintage port on sale.
http://www.thesampler.co.uk/store/depar ... /Portugal/

I happen to live not too far from one of their shops and will be trying their 20 y.o. in the near future.

(sorry, been quite a while since I last posted on this forum!)

[jdaw1]

Butler and Nephew used to be one of the top names in Port, but over the years has been passed around a bit, like an unloved dog. Christies Port recently acquired the house and are happily restoring it to its former glory. We really like their ports, and think they are a port producer to watch.

I didn’t know that BN was still going.

[JB vintage]

Hi jdaw
Their name is written Butler, Nephew (& Co) on the bottles I have seen.

The full story quoted from http://www.vintageport.se:

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. After the Second World War the house was owned by Gonzalez Byass. In 1979 Stephen Christie bought the Gonzalez Byass business in Portugal. 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: 1868, 1873, 1918, 1922, 1924, 1927, 1932, 1934, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1948, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1975, 1982, 2003