For The Love Of Port

Interesting one here. A friend opened this for us last night after dinner. The bottle said "Porto, Krohn, Port, 1937" The back label said it was matured in oak until being bottled in 1997. Now, would this be a tawney with an indication of age????

It looked and tasted more like a Madeira than anything else. Very light brown color turning to an orange color at the glass. There was a little alcohol on the nose and upon initial sip, but had a pleasant mid-palate and a medium length finish. Over all it was pleasant, but I though it was lacking in a bit of depth. I believe my friend said he paid about $200.00 (US) for it about 2 years ago.

Sounds like a Colheita

Was it worth the money?

Tom is correct -- it is a Colheita.

thanks, I though it was kinda wierd that it didn't say on the bottle.

Uncle Tom, Was it worth the money?? IMHO, no not really. Don't get me wrong it was good. But personally, I would have rather spent that kinda money on a '63 or '70 VP for around the same price or cheaper. It really reminded me of the last Cossart Gordan 10 year old Madeira Bual that I had more than anything else. Thats why I was a little confused as to what excatly it was. The front of the bottle label leads one to believe that it was a VP. Which is what I thought until my friend opened it and I saw the color, then I read the back label and saw the bottling date.

Which leads me to ask. During that time period, was it common not to put "Colheita" on the bottle. I don't have a lot of experience with Colheita's but most I have seen say "Colheita" on the bottle.

Colheitas seem to be an aquired taste - most appear to be consumed on the Portuguese domestic market, and I've yet to meet anyone who thought the ancient ones were worth the money.

For that reason I've not personally bothered with them.

cofidis2 wrote:thanks, I though it was kinda wierd that it didn't say on the bottle . . . .

Which leads me to ask. During that time period, was it common not to put "Colheita" on the bottle. I don't have a lot of experience with Colheita's but most I have seen say "Colheita" on the bottle.

Colheitas have an odd history when it comes to labeling. For a time, it was OK to label them as "Port of the Vintage" -- you can imagine the "fun"we had trying to explain the difference to customers between "Vintage Port" and "Port of the Vintage" . . . NOT!

The Syms were (are?) trying to call it "Single Harvest Tawny" -- or is it "Single Harvest Reserve"? I can't remember exactly.

But I've seen older wines, like this 1937, often just carry the name of the shipper and the year.

Cheers,
Jason

uncle tom wrote:Colheitas seem to be an aquired taste - most appear to be consumed on the Portuguese domestic market, and I've yet to meet anyone who thought the ancient ones were worth the money.

Tom? Meet Roy Hersh. Meet me. Meet . . . .

Jason,

Thanks, I could see the confusion now on a customers face trying to explain that one. One thing I have learned the last couple years collecting ports is just about the time I think I have figured out all the weird ways they classified and labeled port, I discover a new one. Makes it kinda fun, like I'm on an Indiana Jones adventure!

Ok Jason, when I next find myself on the west coast USA I'll say hello - but I'm not the greatest fan of oxidative ageing and vinagrinho

I find it also hard to taste very old tawny, when it gets too siruppy, one glass if often enough. What I like about some colheitas and tawny is when you can let them age in the bottle. They gain further complexity but retain all the freshness of the youth when it was bottled. When the bottle is corked with a regular cork, it is a good indication that you can hold on you bottle.

For the Syminton's Colheita, I often seen the word "reserve" on the label instead of Colheita. It is not used anymore, at least in my market, the last one I saw was a Dow 1982 4 years ago.

Frédérick,

You're quite right. Dow's did drop the use of "Reserve" in favor of the term "Colheita." I know (or so I was told) that the Syms were originally opposed to this, pushing for the use of "Reserve" (or in the alternative, IIRC, "Single Harvest Tawny") because, in no small part, most of the world speaks English (as opposed to Portuguese) and to pronouce colheita is just too darn tricky for those non-natives . . . .

Cheers,
Jason