Storing Tawny Port

[Grant H]

I have received a few 20 and 30 year old tawny ports and I am wondering if they should be stored vertically or horizontally? I probably won't drink them for a few months at least, maybe not for a year. They all have t-stopper corks, I believe.

I am sure this has been asked before but a quick search dId not turn up a conclusion.

[Glenn E.]

Short term it doesn't matter, though if you think you won't drink them for a year or more then you should probably store them lying down.

Tawnies are already at least partially oxidized, so the seal around the cork isn't as important as it is for Vintage Port. (Thus the use of t-stoppers instead of full corks.) If you lay them on their sides they'll keep for several years, though they will change somewhat during that time.

[Alan McDonald]

My first visit for a while - I have been too busy working both outdoors and in, but this thread is appropriate to the reason I logged in. We needed a top up of various things so went shopping last week. I have never bothered much with tawnies, but saw some Kopke 2000 Colheita at €17-50 (a shade over US$14) and bought a couple. I had intended them for Christmas but wondered about longer term cellaring. Opinions around the Web and even on this forum in various threads appear to differ.

Opinions please, especially your guess at the maximum time they should be cellared, if at all.

[Glenn E.]

Kopke 2000 Colheita at €17-50 (a shade over US$14)

It's the other way around - €17.50 is roughly $21.50 right now.

Opinions please, especially your guess at the maximum time they should be cellared, if at all.

There are many variables that will affect the answer, including the personal preference of the consumer. What I mean by that is that while collective wisdom says that Colheitas should be consumed as close to their bottling date as possible, at least one producer and many consumers disagree. Dirk Niepoort believes that his Colheitas age nicely in bottle, and I agree with him. One rule of thumb is that if the producer uses a full cork for their Colheitas then they should age nicely, but if they use a t-stopper then they're intended to be consumed soon after bottling.

Kopke generally advises that their Colheitas should not be aged in bottle, but I have found that theirs (like Niepoort's) age nicely. They slowly get a little more mellow with time.

So... how long can they be cellared? If you're the type of person who generally agrees with the collective wisdom, then you will probably want to drink this bottle within a year or two. Store it lying down during that time and it should remain in great shape until you're ready to drink it.

But if you're type of person who believes that Colheitas can be aged in bottle, then it's more difficult to say. Everyone's personal taste will be slightly different, and a tawny's aging profile is different than a ruby's. I don't drink much 10-yr old so it is difficult for me to guess about their aging potential, but I wouldn't intentionally keep a 20-yr old for more than 5-7 years. I will happily keep a 40-year old for 10+ years, though, and I've had even older Colheitas with as much as 40 years in bottle and they were still delicious. So if that indicates anything about the aging profiles I would have to guess that a younger Colheita like a 2000 is probably in that 5-7 year range.

Sorry I can't be very precise.

[Alan McDonald]

Thanks for that. My wife announced that dinner was ready just as I began typing, and I made the XE mistake in my rush. I meant to post "US$22/£14" - based on some money transfers last week. I considered the bottles cheap, even by Portuguese standards.

I do tend to age all Portuguese wines way beyond the "recommendations" and they suit me. Last night I opened a bottle of 2006 Vinha do Tanque (Castelinho) which retailed at 99c for that and the next couple of vintages. I normally reckon on 10 years for just about any Douro red and am in no rush to drink the rest of the 99c collections. Similarly with the better known Port house's Rubies. I find 5 or 6 years improves them a great deal. The brandy often comes through as quite harsh when first purchased. These of course, have t-corks, but they lay down nicely without leaks. I still buy to drink now though, and in the past month have had four badly corked Rubies - three Ferreira and one Offley.

I did ask members to guess, and that is as much as I can expect, but based on what you say I will try cellaring a few and eventually find out. I normally drink Moscatel do Sétubal with nuts after the cheese and Port, rather than a Tawny, but the Colheita will be a change from time to time. Probably Christmas time for the first one. My MIL will be here as usual, and she likes to try something new. She is 87 but still enjoying her wines.

[Andy Velebil]

No need to store them but if you like the style of older bottle aged Colheita's then by all means store them. It's about what you like. Though I'd open one now and try it to see if you like it now or you want to wait to open the others later. The important question is what was the bottling dates on the Kopke's?

As for storing tawny's, lay down or upright, doesn't really matter as they shouldn't be stored for any significant length of time if sealed with a t-cork.

[Alan McDonald]

I should have mentioned that the Kopke 2000s I saw (bought some more yesterday) were bottled this year. I will be trying at least one soon, Christmas at the latest. I have no idea whether I like bottle aged tawnies or colheitas because I have never had one. We very rarely drink tawnies, averaging less than a bottle a year from memory, and I saw this as an opportunity to find out about bottle aged ones despite conventional trade advice being to drink them soon after bottling.

[Roy Hersh]

Alan, is it safe to assume that although you live in Portugal, you are NOT of Portuguese descent, with your last name as a give away?

I ask that because from my observations in country, the native Portuguese far prefer wood-aged Ports to ruby/vintage style of Ports.

[Andy Velebil]

I should have mentioned that the Kopke 2000s I saw (bought some more yesterday) were bottled this year. I will be trying at least one soon, Christmas at the latest. I have no idea whether I like bottle aged tawnies or colheitas because I have never had one. We very rarely drink tawnies, averaging less than a bottle a year from memory, and I saw this as an opportunity to find out about bottle aged ones despite conventional trade advice being to drink them soon after bottling.

Let us know what you think when you try it.

[Alan McDonald]

Roy, I am not Portuguese, moving here for supposed semi-retirement in 2003. I bought about 16 acres that needed lots of TLC though, and still work 7 days a week. My experience of Portuguese in this locality is that they do not drink Port. I do not think I have ever seen a Portuguese pick up a bottle in a shop. Most of them do drink lots of wine (often just their own from a mixture of whatever grapes they grow) and Aguardente - again often home-distilled.

Andy, I will, but it is likely to be little more than I like or I do not like. I never score wines or look for nuances of different flavours. I have posted before that I drink merely to accompany, and hopefully complement, food. It is the food that is most important to me, but I enjoy almost every dish much more with a complementing wine. I will seek the opinion of my wife and MIL though.

[Moses Botbol]

All the tawny I can think of is boxed and shipped upright, FWIW

[Alan McDonald]

Andy, As promised the report on the Kopke Colheita. Three regular Port drinkers did not care for it. Burnt sugar, not impressed and watery were the first remarks. We all preferred the Kopke bottom of the range Tawny purchased two days prior to opening the Colheita. The Colheita was not finished on the third night, but two other bottles had gone. I finished it the following lunchtime.

[Andy Velebil]

A shame on the 2000 but glad they liked the others