For The Love Of Port

Port Tawny and Colheita labels seem to always state the bottling date. (I presume this is a requirement?)

But as I've ventured into Madeira, I've noticed that Madeira Colheita labels often don't state the bottling year.
Why is this? Is there a reason other than it's not required?

I find it a bit troubling.
1) It is usually preferable to drink a Colheita within a few years of bottling. With Madeira I have no idea about its freshness.
2) If I see a 1997 Colheita, I don't know if it spent 20 years in the barrel and is a fresh bottling, or if it spent 10 years in the barrel and 10 years in the bottle.

This range of possibilities would make for a completely different product, and gives me pause about buying the product.

Why this lack of transparency?

Mike K. wrote:Port Tawny and Colheita labels seem to always state the bottling date. (I presume this is a requirement?)

It isn't a requirement, but most producers do include the bottling date.

But as I've ventured into Madeira, I've noticed that Madeira Colheita labels often don't state the bottling year.
Why is this? Is there a reason other than it's not required?

I find it a bit troubling.
1) It is usually preferable to drink a Colheita within a few years of bottling. With Madeira I have no idea about its freshness.
2) If I see a 1997 Colheita, I don't know if it spent 20 years in the barrel and is a fresh bottling, or if it spent 10 years in the barrel and 10 years in the bottle.

This range of possibilities would make for a completely different product, and gives me pause about buying the product.

Why this lack of transparency?

Madeira and Colheita Port are very different beasts. They're sort of similar in that they're both aged in wood, but that's really about the only similarity due to the way that Madeira is made.

As for your concerns:

1. While many people will argue about this for Port, there's no argument for Madeira because it simply isn't an issue. Madeira is almost indestructible, and there's no need to drink it within a few years after bottling. There's even no need to drink it quickly after opening the bottle... I've been running an experiment for 9 years with an open bottle standing on my fridge, and you can't really tell a difference between it and a fresh bottle. Sadly the experiment will soon come to an end, as there's only about 1.5 to 2 glasses left in the bottle.

2. "Colheita" means different things for Port and Madeira. A Colheita Port simply means that it is a single year tawny, and the year is on the label. They can be any age (at least 7 years old before bottling). A Colheita Madeira is specifically between 5 and 19 years old before bottling. But there are other labels (Reserve, Special Reserve, and Extra Reserve) that can be used at 5+, 10+, and 15+ years old, so the combination should narrow it down for you. And if it doesn't say Colheita and it has a date on the label, that means it is a Vintage Madeira and is at least 20 years old. (They can't put the word "vintage" on the label, though, because that's been trademarked by the Port trade.)

Glenn E. wrote:Madeira and Colheita Port are very different beasts. They're sort of similar in that they're both aged in wood, but that's really about the only similarity due to the way that Madeira is made.

As for your concerns:

1. While many people will argue about this for Port, there's no argument for Madeira because it simply isn't an issue. Madeira is almost indestructible, and there's no need to drink it within a few years after bottling. There's even no need to drink it quickly after opening the bottle... I've been running an experiment for 9 years with an open bottle standing on my fridge, and you can't really tell a difference between it and a fresh bottle. Sadly the experiment will soon come to an end, as there's only about 1.5 to 2 glasses left in the bottle.

2. "Colheita" means different things for Port and Madeira. A Colheita Port simply means that it is a single year tawny, and the year is on the label. They can be any age (at least 7 years old before bottling). A Colheita Madeira is specifically between 5 and 19 years old before bottling. But there are other labels (Reserve, Special Reserve, and Extra Reserve) that can be used at 5+, 10+, and 15+ years old, so the combination should narrow it down for you. And if it doesn't say Colheita and it has a date on the label, that means it is a Vintage Madeira and is at least 20 years old. (They can't put the word "vintage" on the label, though, because that's been trademarked by the Port trade.)

Glenn, Thanks for your reply, that's quite helpful and appreciated!

Good point on question #1, the years in the bottle shouldn't matter much, unlike port. That's a great experiment you've been running :)

Thank you for your tips on question #2. I recently bought a Justino's 1996 Colheita. Roy has tasting notes on this bottling back in 2005. To play devil's advocate, I don't know if mine was bottled in 2005 or 2016, or anywhere in between. Those years in wood make a big difference in expected flavor /value /pricing. That's why I wish they'd list the bottling date, so the consumer know's what they are buying.

Cheers!

Mike K. wrote:

Glenn E. wrote:Madeira and Colheita Port are very different beasts. They're sort of similar in that they're both aged in wood, but that's really about the only similarity due to the way that Madeira is made.

As for your concerns:

1. While many people will argue about this for Port, there's no argument for Madeira because it simply isn't an issue. Madeira is almost indestructible, and there's no need to drink it within a few years after bottling. There's even no need to drink it quickly after opening the bottle... I've been running an experiment for 9 years with an open bottle standing on my fridge, and you can't really tell a difference between it and a fresh bottle. Sadly the experiment will soon come to an end, as there's only about 1.5 to 2 glasses left in the bottle.

2. "Colheita" means different things for Port and Madeira. A Colheita Port simply means that it is a single year tawny, and the year is on the label. They can be any age (at least 7 years old before bottling). A Colheita Madeira is specifically between 5 and 19 years old before bottling. But there are other labels (Reserve, Special Reserve, and Extra Reserve) that can be used at 5+, 10+, and 15+ years old, so the combination should narrow it down for you. And if it doesn't say Colheita and it has a date on the label, that means it is a Vintage Madeira and is at least 20 years old. (They can't put the word "vintage" on the label, though, because that's been trademarked by the Port trade.)

Glenn, Thanks for your reply, that's quite helpful and appreciated!

Good point on question #1, the years in the bottle shouldn't matter much, unlike port. That's a great experiment you've been running :)

Thank you for your tips on question #2. I recently bought a Justino's 1996 Colheita. Roy has tasting notes on this bottling back in 2005. To play devil's advocate, I don't know if mine was bottled in 2005 or 2016, or anywhere in between. Those years in wood make a big difference in expected flavor /value /pricing. That's why I wish they'd list the bottling date, so the consumer know's what they are buying.

Cheers!

Based on its price and the fact that it was winning awards in 2013, my guess is that it's probably a 10 year old. Possibly 15.

But you are correct, within the broader Colheita range there's quite a bit of potential difference in profile.

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable about Madeira will chime in with more specific information about this bottling!

Actually Madeira does require bottling dates by law for the past two or three years. Usually on the back label. Madeira does change in the bottle but at a glacial rate. It works better for some producers such as D'Oliveiras. The wine becomes less overt fruity with what I call a lacy texture. This works well with such rich wines like D'Oliveiras. It does take decades to notice a change however.

Does anyone know the date when the IV(BA)M regulations changed to require producers to state the year on bottling somewhere on the bottle?

Knowing when it became mandatory helps to narrow down possible bottling dates when you have a bottle with a sello but no bottling date.

To followup on my original post, Justino's 1996/1997/1998 Colheitas tend to be 20 year olds. They still have not put the bottling date on either label, but you can find it in the laser code on the glass if you look carefully.

It was at Justino that I learned the bottling date is permitted to be laser etched onto the glass of the bottle and that is considered to be sufficient to meet the regulatory requirements.

But I’m still drawing a blank on learning when it became a requirement to show the bottling date on both colheita and frasqueira wines.

I want to say the bottling date became mandatory in the mid2000's but that's just off the top of my head. I know D'Oliveiras did so a few years earlier.

My very kind contact at the IVBAM has helpfully told me that it was Ordinance 38 of 2015, published on 13th February 2015, which made it mandatory to include the bottling year on wines which carry an indication of the vintage year.

The vintage year must be indicated on wines which are Frasqueira / Garrafeira, Colheita or Solera.

That narrows down a little the bottling year brackets for wines which do not have a bottling year on them:

• No seal - shipped in bulk and bottled overseas or bottled before 1940
• JNV seal (various styles, which varied over time) - bottled between 1940 and 1979 (Peter Reutter: a small brown wax seal was used in the early sixties which carried the letters JNV and REF)
• IVM seal - bottled between 01-Jan-1980 and June 2006
• IVBAM seal but no bottling date - bottled June 2006 - February 2015, although some producers such as d'Oliveira included a bottling date much earlier than when required by regulation
• IVBAM seal with bottling date - as per bottling date

Does anyone have a set of pictures of the JNV seals and how they changed over the years? I have only one wine with a JNV seal and will post a photograph of this later.