Colheita is ‘vintage tawny’, an often overlooked category among the oxidatively barrel-aged port wines, and not many producers master this category as Kopke, which with its foundation in 1638 is the oldest existing port wine house.
The rules state that colheita must be matured for at least 7 years in wooden barrels before it can be bottled with the bottling year indicated on the bottle. The storage requirement is a minimum indication; there is no ceiling on how old they may be, but it is a requirement that the wine’s identity papers are registered with and approved by the Port Wine Institute.
After 14 years of storage in Kopke’s cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia, this wine is wonderfully ready to drink, and it presents itself with youthful nuances, but otherwise with a spicy, slightly smoky and sweet aroma of dried fruits, such as raisins and prunes. In the mouth, the wine unfolds with great fullness of taste with ripe fruit and a glorious balance between acidity, fruit and a not too dominant sweetness.
This colheita can be enjoyed with hard cheeses, nuts, dried fruits or simply as the most obvious “meditation wine” imaginable.
After opening, the wine is stable for up to 4-6 weeks – possibly. stored in the refrigerator. Then the wine just slowly becomes more slack and loses a little focus as the days go by, so do not panic if there should be a few glasses left in an open bottle …
