Burmester Novidade - what is this?

[Andreas Platt]

So a friend of mine let's me visit his cellar and proudly he shows me a bottle which says "Burmester Reserve Novidade 1890 Vinho do Porto".

Subsequently i made me "investigations" on the net, but the only info i could find is the following:

- "Novidade" seems to be the opposite of "Feitoria", latter meaning factory bottled, so Novidade were sold in cask and bottled by the buyer, sometime?

- dear fellow board member Gustavo Devesas owns a Burmester 1890 - but a Colheita - according to his post from 6th of August '07

- dear fellow board member Nikolaj Winther mentions a Burmester 1890 Novidade available for sale according to his post from 31th of October '07

- a german dealer has a Burmester 1863 https://portwine.de/shop/index.php4...013&cp_tpl=main (no affiliation!) which was bottled '32 and recorked '72.

I simply don't get it if this wine is a VP (according to Burmester it is http://www.burmesterporto.com/en/vinho/vinho.htm) or some kind of Tawny/Colheita?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

[Derek T.]

Andreas,

I think this is a Colheita. The word Reserve was interchangeable with Colheita until recently (a fact I recently discovered from Roy) and I think this is the case here.

Derek

[Andreas Platt]

Derek,

but what confuses me is that Burmuster's web page says:

"Vintage Port: Casa Burmester has sold "Feitoria" (Factory House) or "Novidade" wine to Europe and the British Isles since 1750. At the time, it was transported in oak barrels, where it remained for approximately two years before being bottled. Since the beginning of the 20th century, all Vintages are bottled in the cellars at Vila Nova de Gaia during the second spring after the harvest.
Produced according to the traditional method of foot treading in classic stone "lagares", a Vintage is only declared in years of outstanding and exceptional quality."

and

"Colheita: This is a wine of exceptional quality and elegance, a CASA BURMESTER classic that is made from a single harvest - a "Vintage Tawny" - aged in small 550-litre oak barrels in our Vila Nova de Gaia Cellars. It is bottled, at the very least, after seven years and in accordance with demand."

So under this explanation a Novidade would be a VP - I don't get it...

[Andy Velebil]

Andreas,

Could you get a picture of it, that may help. Also, was there a bottling date on it anywhere, an IVP selo, or anything else?

[Andreas Platt]

Andy,

i have not taken a pic but this: http://www.philipsonwine.com/default.as ... u=55531018

looks quite the same. My friend's bottle does have the white banderole, too, but it has a capsule and not this brown tape as in the link.

Thanks for participating in the detective game;-).

[Derek T.]

Andreas,

I do not know the literal translations of the terms Feitoria and Novidade but from the context in which they are used on the Burmester site they seem to describe the method of shipment rather than the style of the wine so I don't think the use of Novidade on the label would mean that it was Vintage Port.

The Danish description of the bottle pictured on the site in your link seems to describe the wine as a Colheita.

Derek

[Andreas Platt]

Derek,

you're probably right (i have this suspicion, too), BUT: Burmester only mentions the Novidade once, and that is when they're writing about VP's.

Makes me suspicious. Maybe i should call Burmester? If the bottle is a Colheita or similar, what would you guess should i give him? The Danish price is absurd - in a Swiss auction it fetched EUR 150 some time ago (if i read correctly):

auction: http://www.wermuth.ch/Weinauktion_WZ_180_2.html ...lot 525 or search "1890"
result: http://www.wermuth.ch/ErgebnisseWZ180.html ...2 bottles went for SFR 470,-

And is this still drinkable? Bottle looks good, i can send pic if you (or anyone else would like.

Thanks

[Andy Velebil]

I can almost guarantee its a colheita. Should be quite drinkable, now how good it is, I have no idea. As Ive never had it and I don't recall ever seeing a TN on it.

[Lars F]

Translation from the Danish website:

The 1890 Novidade is the predecessor (forerunner?) for the Colheita, which means a "vintage tawny" from a single year.

-Lars

[Al B.]

I also suspect that this is a colheita from 1890, so there might be a bottling date on the label somewhere. It would also be of interest to know if there is an IVP guarantee on the bottle at all. However, both of these things could be missing if it was bottled a long time ago. What language is the label written in?

I have never tried this particular port, but 1890 has produced some very good colheita ports which are drinking very nicely at the moment. Roy has also posted a tasting note of the 1890 Ramos Pinto colheita port that was drunk on the Harvest Tour of 2006.

It's difficult to put an accurate price on such a bottle, but if it came up at auction I would expect that it would sell for a hammer price of something in the range of £200-300.

Alex

[Andreas Platt]

So here is what the bottle says:

BURMESTER
Vinho do Porto
Doce Aloirado
Marca Registada
Reserva
Novidade 1890
Envelhecido em casco

And it has a "Selo de Garantia" from the IVP with number BI (?) 221191. I'm not sure about the BI could be 81 as well.

But no bottling date (at least not on front side).

Thanks

[Andy Velebil]

Andreas,

This is a colheita. In the old days the regulations were much more relaxed and there was not the consistancy in labeling requirements that there is now. As others have stated, the term Reserva used to be used in-lieu of the word Colheita.

Hopefully, you're friend will be kind enough to share it with you. If so, don't forget to post a TN. I'm curious on how it turns out.

[Andreas Platt]

Andy,

he won't open it, for sure. I maybe will buy it from him, we'll see.

In the meantime he sent me a pic of the back -

"
Os Vinhos do Portos da bi-secular casa BURMESTER sao provenientes das melhore Quintas da regiao damarca do Douro e envelhecidos exclusivamente por processos naturais, em cascos de carvelho, segundo tecnicas traditionais, transmitidas e apuradas de geracao em geracao.

-

O Vinho contido nesta garraja, envelhecido durante longes decades em casco, provem da colheita indicada no rotulo e foi especialmente saleccionado para a nossa clientela mais exigente".

A Colheita it must be - for sure.

It doesn't say when it was bottled, though. Any additional infos readable for someone firm in portuguese, which i'm not?

Thanks

[Andy Velebil]

I put it through my basic Apple translator and came up with this..

The Wines of the Ports of bi-secular house BURMESTER sao proceeding from them improves Fifth of regiao damarca of the Douro and aged exclusively for natural processes, in hooves of carvelho, according to traditionais tecnicas, transmitted and refined of geracao in geracao.

The Wine contained in this garraja, aged during longes decades in
hoof, comes from the harvest indicated in friction it and especially
was saleccionado for our more demanding clientele

Not the best translator, I know, but it sorta works!

[Andreas Platt]

http://www.freetranslation.com/

Did it with this but there didn't come out anything more or less either, thatfore i thought i'd give it a try here. Was hard enough typing all the label writing, anyways.

[Todd Pettinger]

Late entry to the game, I know... sorry - haven't been around for a few days (hugely busy at work!) or I would have chipped in sooner, but...

"Envelhecido em casco"

I have no idea which language this is in or what it literally translates to, but I suspect that if someone had a translator for that language, this would mean "aged in cask." At least that is what it screams to me...

Todd

[Nikolaj Winther]

Andy,

i have not taken a pic but this: http://www.philipsonwine.com/default.as ... u=55531018

looks quite the same. My friend's bottle does have the white banderole, too, but it has a capsule and not this brown tape as in the link.

Thanks for participating in the detective game;-).

It's not tape but a brown lacquer seal. You can tell from the way it has run down the side of the neck.