Colheita

The 1997 Colheita Port is a blend of Touriga Franca (35%), Tinta Roriz (20%), Touriga Nacional (15%), Tinta Barroca (10%) and other typical, regional grapes sourced from Quinta Vale d’Agodinho. It comes in at 114 grams per liter of residual sugar. Bottled in 2014 with a bartop cork, it was aged initially in a 14,000liter vats, then in 650liter barrels. This was tasted from a 375ml bottle and the pricing is for that halfbottle. A lighter styled and laidback tawny, this is pleasing and tasty, with a soft, silky texture. There is not a lot of intensity or concentration and it doesn’t have superb focus or grip on the finish. However, It has much of the same elegance I’ve seen in a lot of 1997 Colheitas and it fleshes out a bit. It finishes with juicy fruit. It is also yet another example of how important temperature can be with these tawnies. Opened around 74 degrees F, it was eventually chilled down to 63 degrees F and at that point seemed twice as interesting, better balanced and more mouthfilling. I can’t say it often enough; drink it a bit cool and it will be easy charmer. As with all of my tawny drinking windows, take this just as an advisory. If the cork remains intact, they last a long, long time. February 2015.