Colheita Vintages ... coincidence or planned?

[Roy Hersh]

Unlike Vintage Ports, Colheitas can literally come from any particular harvest where there are decent grapes available; as much of the blending and wood aging is responsible for the quality of these Ports. Sure, you must have good grapes to make a fine wine ... even a Colheita, but the actual vintage date on a Colheita is not really all that important.

Or is it?

Certainly we've seen many a fine Colheita come from lackluster years in which vintage Ports were either not declared at all, or scant few were produced. Significant Colheita years like 1986, 1974, 1964, 1957, 1952, 1944, 1940, 1938 and 1937 all come to mind, to name a few good examples of mediocre vintages that produced some excellent Colheitas. Given that there is about half as much Colheita produced as Vintage Port ... we are talking about a rather scarce Port category to begin with. Heck, you are hard pressed to even find a decent selection of Colheitas anywhere in the UK, while VPs abound there.

But then there are certain vintages ... a few of which were great for Vintage Port too, that made exemplary Colheitas. 1963, 1966 and 1967 all come to mind as well as 1987 and 1995 more recently. But when I think of a year like 1937 in which almost every major producer of Colheita just happened to launch their fine vintage-dated-Tawny Ports (a.k.a. Colheita) I scratch my head and wonder what caused this phenomenon.

So is there any real correlation between Colheita production and the vintage it comes from?

[Alan Gardner]

I wondered the same thing, Roy.

When the 15 different Colheitas from Kopke were offered in Ontario recently I was faced with the practical decision of what to buy. My budget doesn't run to a complete set and certainly my appetite would blanch at trying 15 at the same session.
The final choice came down to 'renowned vintage years' versus 'off-years' and I polled my tasting group for their views.
The strong decision was for the 'off-years' anticipating that the best fruit would have been used.
Fortunately a second tasting group decided to buy a wide-spread selection to see if we could detect any aging patterns - and that purchase is evenly mixed between 'renowned' and 'off'.
We always do blind tastings and vote; so eventually you'll get the notes on these tastings and maybe some conclusions.

[Eric Ifune]

I would think that in a vintage year, a house would use almost all of its fruit for it's vintage. In a non-vintage year, more would be available for it's wood ports.

[Frederick Blais]

You are the expert so you tell us

I agree with Eric on the quantity of Port juice available on off vintage. Though on general quality of a year to be able to make a vintage chart for Colheita, I'd say it is too complex.

We could compare Colheita to 2nd wine in Bordeaux. In a great vintage like 2000, all the 1st wine are amazing and the 2nd wine are just so impressive too. In port it would translate of more than enough quantity of great quality to go into the VP and amazing quality of left over to do the Colheita/LBV. Though in an off vintage, there is more than average quality for Colheita available.

Again I could compare Colheita to Burgundy. Which means the producer is more important than the vintage. Even in a bad vintage their wines shines as the best, they always find a way to make things good while others always need great raw component to stand out.

Last thing, the refresh of Colheita. Even the most purist do refresh them, even how hard they try to hide it, they do. Some do it in a more respecful way, some don't. So how pure is a specific Colheita after 50 years?

If we don't consider refreshing in Colheita, we could say that vintage is very important as you can't hide a flaw from a specific years by blending it trough other years like we do with aged tawnies. But still, the hand of man can intefer trough the years of aging to correct flaws which you can't do with VP.

[Tom Archer]

Some years thet were not brilliant for the grape varieties that make good, lasting, VP; were nonetheless good years for the other varieties, which may be better suited to becoming old wood ports - 2007 perhaps..??

As far as 1937 was concerned, this appears to have been a declarable year; but with the storm clouds of war brewing, it probably seemd prudent to stick the wines in wood - and leave them there.

Tom

[Roy Hersh]

Give up on the 2007s, that battle is clearly lost and if you read last months A Question for the Port Trade, there wouldn't even be any question even in your mind.

As to the 1937, yes, it may have been good enough in other times, to declare a VP. However, it was more a matter of the economics of the time that caused 1937 to head into wood for the long haul. 1927 was a massive vintage, 1931 few producers bothered due to The Great Depression and with 1934/1935 as a split declaration ... there was a LOT of Vintage Port in the market place by the time 1937 rolled around. It had no real chance and the same could be said for 1938 which saw many a Colheita produced as well (not as many as '37 though).

[Tom Archer]

Give up on the 2007s

Good idea!

In any event, economic events unfolding at the moment may seal a similar fate for the '07's to that which befell the '37's (and '87's, for that matter)

I was talking to a London wine merchant at an auction yesterday who told me that the demand for fine wines in the capital has evaporated. He was the only dealer to attend the auction, and there were barely ten people in the auction room, compared to forty or so normally.

The speed with which the economy is unravelling is quite dramatic, and the same seems to be the case on the other side of the pond.

Will there still be an appetite for a new declaration, come the spring?

Tom

[Roy Hersh]

The ONLY saving grace on this side of the water is that we will FINALLY have a new leader and no matter who it is, it will be a positive outcome. Maybe the economy will still turn around a bit slower here, but I have a feeling we are going to see (at least here) some significant legislation to curtail some of the speculators which have unquestionably driven the price of petrol way out of control (given that supply has been steady or up in the past two months and usage/demand has slacked off at least in the USA (China/India still continue to drive demand). In fact, on the supply side, OPEC pumped out an increase of nearly 400,000 barrels per day more in May than they did in April.

So in my crystal ball, the key is going to be the price at which 2007 VPs are released. If there is a modicum of sense (given the economy's innate weakness and the quantity of 2000/2003 still in the pipeline) to the pre-release pricing ... or not, that should tell the story of whether '07 will be successful. If we see no increase from 2003 or at worst, a very slim uptick, maybe just maybe the vintage will sell through regardless. However if there is a similar jump akin to what we saw comparing 2000 and 2003 ... I believe the trade would be making a huge mistake and price resistance would be fierce.

Now ... back to the Colheita discussion.

[jghi]

However if there is a similar jump akin to what we saw comparing 2000 and 2003 ... I believe the trade would be making a huge mistake and price resistance would be fierce.

I've unfortunately have heard many a same comments about bordeaux ...

And where am I now?

short of any bordeaux after the 03 vintage.

[Tom Archer]

And where am I now?

short of any bordeaux after the 03 vintage.

Patience will be rewarded - in a couple of years time, try buying the '05's at auction - you'll probably pay less than half the release price.

The bubble is bursting..!

Tom

[Andy Velebil]

Interesting to see where prices will be in the next year or two. just last week I was speaking to one of the owners of a wine store near me who stated that sales were "way down" recently. Far below what is normal for this time of the year.

[Marc J.]

I've also seen a softening in demand to fine wine. A number of merchants that I've spoken to have indicated that demand was WAY down and in fact one or two of them may not survive this downturn.

Marc

[Andy Velebil]

Yeah, I'm curious to see how this plays out over time. Tradionally, most wine drinkers start cutting what they don't drink most of and that is dessert wines (i.e. Port). Although that may be a very good thing for us

[Shawn Denkler]

The decision to make a Colheita is based upon many factors. For a Colheita, or older tawny port such as a 20, 30, or 40 year old, excellent quality port must be used as raw material. Generally the best grapes go into Vintage Port, and the next best go into the Colheitas and older tawnys. One of the characteristics necessary for the lots that go into vintage port is deep color and ample tannins. Thus an excellent quality lot that is lower in color or tannin would not go into vintage port, but be excellent for the high quality tawnys.

To declare a vintage the grapes must be of excellent quality of course. But there must be sufficient quantity of vintage port from that year. If the amount is too small, the shipper will not declare a vintage. Other factors have to be considered as well such as how close to the last declared vintage it is, and the quality of the next vintage. Market factors such as demand and world economic conditions also are part of the decision. Because of these factors, many vintage port quality lots are not used for vintage port.

So high quality grapes suitable for making quality Colheitas and tawnys are available in declared years and non-declared years. But the rise in production of Single Quinta Vintage Ports has taken most of the vintage port quality grapes available that do not go into “true” Vintage Port from declared years.

So today the lots of port that become a Colheita or tawny are probably mostly the high quality lots that are short on color or tannin. These are aged in wood at length and the best lots go into a Colheita. Lesser quality lots with some flaws can go into the older tawny ports such as a 20, 30, or 40 year old. The flaws can be blended out with other lots, or other years, including younger wine. This blending is allowed in production of tawnys with an indication of age. The age is only a rough average. But a Colheita must be 95% from that year.

[Roy Hersh]

By far the best post of the week Shawn. Thanks for coming back here to spread your wisdom. So I never heard your final opinion of the Madeira tasting and Fado in April. You could post a brief note over on the Madeira Forum area. Thanks for stopping back here!