2000 Quinta do Portal Colheita -- bottled 2010

[Otto Nieminen]

Quinta do Portal Colheita 2000 - bottled 2010; 20% abv; 120 g/l sugar; c.30€ in the Finnish monopoly
The more I drink port, the more I gravitate towards these oxidative styles. In fact - and here I must don a tin helmet - I haven't opened a VP in about a year! But tawnies and colheitas have a refreshing character that I particularly like: though Port is never high in acid, would it be right to say that these styles are relatively higher in acidity than VPs or is the freshness from something else? Well whatever it is from this Colheita was an attractive wine: spicy and slightly oxidative aromas with an almost citric lift to the fragrances; more savoury than such upfront, fruity Tawnies as Graham's 10yo but still with obvious and youthful fruit. Very sweet but with refreshing qualities to match. Nice! Perhaps even very nice! (Oddly enough, I've only seen one other note on this wine and it wasn't a positive one. So what are forumites' views on Portal's Colheitas and Tawnies in general?)

[Gary Richardson]

They make one of my favorite 10-year tawnies. It would be interesting to do a side-by-side comparison of that and this Colheita. Unfortunately, I have not seen the Colheita locally.

-- Gary

[Otto Nieminen]

Thanks for that Gary! Sadly we don't have the tawny available so I can't do a comparison either. But we do have their 2005 VP - I wonder if, as a change from these wood aged Ports, I should open that next. I guess it should be ok with a long decant?