1937 Moriera~Colheita
Its amber core fades to pale buckwheat honey near the rim. On the nose sublimity sets the mood with soft caressingly sweet toffee, coffee, candied nuts, dried fruits and a hint of bittersweet chocolate providing the aromatic core. In the mouth this presents an incredibly round and smooth texture with generous length and a silky smooth finish. Absolutely lovely! So good in fact that is was hard to put down the glass and before the clock struck 12 my friend Chris and I had nearly polished off the 750.....after way too many bottles of vino Four stars (93)
This is a brand that is owned by Hutcheson Port company and sells for about $125+ per bottle.
Long case aging leaves the suggestion of a woody flavour in this light amber coloured Port. Intense dry fruit aromas accompany the fully developed flavours, noticeably those of caramel and chocolate. Medium bodied, soft and silky with a long finish.
Yo Roy.....if you get he chance to try any of these they're well worth it....and think you're right about them retailing a little less than $125, although I believe we paid about $70-ish for this one.....it's truely sublime and delicious.....I've also got the '41 and '50, other vintages are available too.....apparently a recent shipment of numerous vintages made it stateside.
Medium to deep garnet-orange with an orange amber rim with good clarity although there was some particulate matter. Fragrant of alcohol, cane sugar, marzipan, and toffee with a hint of acetone at the edges. Light in sweetness and acidity, this was a pleasant colheita, with medium body and toffee, caramel, and marzipan flavors, with some old wood and acetone showing up on the rather short finish for a wine of this age. Drinkable, I had expected more, but some of the colheitas of greater age from this producer have lots of faults. This had a few, especially on the short finish, but fewer than some of the younger colheitas. 88
Tis a very pleasant wine, as most colheitas from this year have been, and it is very difficult to beat the quality-to-price ratio for this wine. Although I bought my bottle for about $130 in the U.S., Schneider's had it earlier this year for about $80 a bottle when the prices for Moreira ports dropped suddenly across the board. Although most retailers dropped their pricing, they quickly raised them back up to their former levels.
The only problem with Moreira that I have found is their inconsistency, some of their colheitas I have rated as low as 68/100 for their 1966 colheita, and as high as 88/100 for their 1937. It may be possible that there is incosistency between bottles as well, who knows...
-----------------------
Kevin B. Kelly
A Port Enthusiast
Brian - is your experience with this particular vintage and bottling limited to the one bottle mentioned in your tasting note? I ask because quite to the contrary of your post, which implies a much lower quality expectation and significant bottle variation than I experienced, I've found notable consistency and an excellent quality level overall in both the 1937, and more generally in the older vintages of Moreira (i.e. – 1941, 1950). Perhaps an important element that gives this particular producer an edge is the terrific price point you allude to. You mention the great price that Schneider’s had it for earlier in the year - actually that was the result the importer going out of business and a very savvy purchase by the boys at Schneider’s and had nothing to do with a downturn in overall market prices. Moreover, even at the retail price you paid this producer represents an incredible value when compared to other producers in the same vintages. For those of us who are passionate about oxidatively-styled Ports, it’s really quite hard to justify spending nearly 2 to 3 times for the other producers, even if they are perhaps better in quality.
One last question – what’s the difference between a 68 and 69 point Colheita? Or a 70 and a 71 pointer? For practical purposes I think most of us essentially use a 20 point scale which calibrates to 80-100 points. How one gets down to 68 and technically quantifies that digital translation to a subjective experience challenges my imagination.
Four stars (93)