A Few Short Notes, Kopke and Rocha

[Kris Henderson]

My local wine shop put together an informal tasting with the distributor of Kopke and Rocha, and Sandra Marques, the export manager for Porto Kopke and Porto Rocha. Since it was an informal affair and it's difficult to take notes while standing and holding a glass of Port, here are a few brief impressions presented in the order tasted:

1. Kopke Dry White Port - Fresh and floral with low acidity. Even though the label said dry, it tasted a little sweet.
2. Kopke 10 Year Old White Port - Nice nose with butterscotch and dried leaves. Moderate acidity. Really liked this. A second taste later in the evening left me less excited about this one.
3. 2000 Kopke Colheita - Caramelly and nutty with moderate acidity. Not as complex as the older ones but very nice overall.
4. 1995 Rocha Colheita - Didn't note anything on this one. It was tight and closed down. The small pour didn't help either.
5. 1990 Kopke Colheita - Notes of dried lemon peel. A bit hot on the finish but leaves a pleasant lingering warmth.
6. 1986 Rocha Colheita - Caramel, almond, and butterscotch aromas / flavors. Thick and viscous with a warm spicy finish.
7. 1982 Rocha Colheita - Notes of white chocolate and cinnamon. Medium weight with a smooth short finish.
8. 1976 Rocha Colheita - Medium weight body. Nice finish. Not much on the nose.
9. 1967 Rocha Colheita - Big caramel nose with a peppery finish. A bit one-dimensional but fun to taste.
10. 1955 Kopke Colheita - Lots going on in this one. Intense flavors, Thick, rich viscous palate with a good dose of acid.
11. 1947 Kopke Colheita - Lovely seductive nose. Super thick full body palate with lots of lively acidity.
12. Three Centuries of Porto Rocha Tawny - A little funky with a warm finish.
13. 1985 Kopke Vintage - Light red with ripe strawberry nose. Low tannin and acid.
14. 1987 Kopke Vintage - Light red. Soft tannins. Harsh alcohol. Cherry nose.
15. 1991 Rocha Vintage - Rich fruit aromas. Moderate tannin. Ethanol finish. Has a bit more going on than the '85 and '87.
16. 1997 Rocha Vintage - Medium red with very ripe / roasted fruit aromas. Reminded me of 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape.
17. 2000 Rocha Vintage - Dark red with a tight nose. Warm persistent finish with cherries and figs.
18. 2003 Rocha Vintage - Dark red. Medium tannins. Flavors of cherry and strawberry. A bit simple.
19. 2007 Kopke Vintage - Very dark red / purple. Big nose with fully body and moderate firm tannins for a young Port.

It was fun to taste all these and a pleasure meeting the lovely Sandra Marques again. There was little to no decant time on these, most were pop and pour straight from the bottle. My favorite of the bunch was the 1955 Kopke Colheita. Interestingly, I noted that I preferred the Colheitas as they got older and the Vintages as they got younger.

[Andy Velebil]

Hey Kris, welcome back! Was wondering if you'd given up Port for all that beer stuff In a little bit I'll make seperate threads for each tasting note, in the Tasting Note forum that will reference back to this original. Thanks for sharing and come around more often!

[Glenn E.]

Nice! Where was the tasting held? I'd have been there if I'd known about it.

[Melanie R.]

Glenn, World of Wines in Redmond is having a tasting tonight that includes Kopke and Rocha, at which I understand Sandra will be present. Details on their website.

[Roy Hersh]

I think we need to do another night at the Holiday Inn in January. Seattle has so many Port lovers and is not far from ... well, Vancouver, Portland and CA. Then again, EVERYBODY would be welcome but we realize flying during the winter for Port is not something everybody is willing to do.

We never seem to have a problem getting enough people interested for events here. Let's consider it. Then again, we have a different area of the Forum where we could bandy around dates and times and themes.

[Eric Ifune]

Jan is perfect for me. Will be gone for several months starting Feb.

[Kris Henderson]

Andy - Still drinking Port, though beer, cocktails and cars have held my interest the last few months....

Glenn - This was at the Uptown Hideway and arranged by McCarthy & Schiering wine shop.

Did anyone make it to the tasting at World of Wines? How was it?

[Glenn E.]

Did anyone make it to the tasting at World of Wines? How was it?

I did, and it was pretty good. It was one of their winemaker's events, so there were ~6 total producers present and pouring with Kopke/Rocha being just one of them.

The lineup wasn't as extensive as the event you went to, but it was still pretty good:

Porto Rocha Branco Lagrima
Kopke 10 Year Old Tawny Port
1994 Kopke Colheita (2009)
1988 Kopke Colheita (2007)
1963 Kopke Colheita (2010) - needed the secret handshake to get this one
2007 Kopke Vintage Port
1991 Kopke Vintage Port

I have full tasting notes that I'll post eventually. My winner was obviously the 1963 Colheita - it's an outstanding tawny - but both of the VPs also showed well. I picked up 2 bottles of the '91 and a half bottle of the '63 after the event.

[Melanie R.]

I showed up at the World of Wines tasting just in time to miss Glenn, it sounds like. I won't be posting tasting notes, but I will say that my favorites from Glenn's list were the 2007 VP and the 1991 VP. (Except I thought the 2007 was Rocha, not Kopke? Maybe Roy can confirm this for us?).

[Roy Hersh]

Without checking my notes, I believe the 1991 was the Dona Matilde Colheita, not a 1991 Vintage Port.

[Andy Velebil]

I've split Kris' tasting notes into their own seperate TN's in the Tasting Note section.

[Melanie R.]

Hm, maybe I will get in touch with the store and find out for sure. I didn't think it was the Dona Matilde, as I've had that in the past and didn't care for it very much. I guess it's a mystery for now...

[Glenn E.]

(Except I thought the 2007 was Rocha, not Kopke? Maybe Roy can confirm this for us?).

Without checking my notes, I believe the 1991 was the Dona Matilde Colheita, not a 1991 Vintage Port.

They had a mix of the 2007 Rocha and Kopke VPs there, and in the past I've had stores mix them up when I've ordered them, so I would believe that they mixed and matched as the event went on. (I ordered a 6-pack of the 2007 Rocha from a different store and when it arrived it had 3 Rocha and 3 Kopke in it.) My notes have a 2007 Kopke VP and a 1991 Kopke VP, and I bought 2 bottles of the 1991 Kopke VP so in that particular case I know my notes are right. They did have the 1991 Dona Matilde Colheita in the store, though, so by the time Roy got to them they may have had one of those open.

[John M.]

When is Sandra coming to the NYC area???

[Roy Hersh]

She's based in NJ and does tastings in the metro-area FREQUENTLY.