For The Love Of Port

Hello,

what do you think about these Colheitas? What do you think about the aging potential?

I had recently the Colheita 1998 and I liked it a lot. Not too sweet, nicely balanced and a fine fresh finish. I will certainly buy more of this one.

Cheers
Michael

Michael M. wrote: what do you think about these Colheitas? What do you think about the aging potential?

I had recently the Colheita 1998

Michael,

good question...anyone got any ideas on how long these colheita Madeira's will last in bottle?

I've reported on Colheita Madeiras in an article that you can find in the archives. It is a fairly new category of Madeira but the wines are solid and sometimes really outstanding. The shelf life is not a concern, but stylistically these are not mean to rival Vintage Madeiras for shelf life. They are designed to drink and be enjoyed while old VMs sit in the cellar for a special occasion. That said, I would have no issues aging these for a few decades without thinking twice.

Considerung that the Colheitas have had a few years in cask, I think that they should be oxidized enough to last 30 years. A lot of the 5YO and 10YO blends do very well in bottle over 20+ years, so the Colheitas will have at least the same bottle-life-time. Initially the Colheitas were designed to have at least 12 years in cask, but with most producers, due to the pressure of the market these wines will be released after 8 years.

Many thanks for your helpful words. I would like to pose an additional question according to the evolution of Madeira Colheitas.

Roy said, that these Colheitas are ready to drink. Will the wine nevertheless achieve improvement in the bottle over the years/decades? Port Colheitas and Dirk van der Niepoort who believes that his Colheitas do improve after bottling come to my mind. Or, will there just be a change of flavours one can't evaluate as superior/inferior? Or will there be no significant difference in flavours because of the very oxidative style of Madeira?

Since Madeira wine is much more oxidized than Port, there will be little to zero development of the wine in the bottle. In fact even vintage wines that had 40 years in bottle do change surprisingly little during that time.
Regarding the "bottle aged style" of old Madeira Vintages I guess that the majority of the Colheita wines does not have enough complexity to lead to a significant change of taste. With the few examples of "bottle aged" Vintages I had already trouble finding a profound difference in taste, so I doubt that the Colheitas will display something like a development in the bottle.
Nevertheless some Colheita wines can beat the very young vintages of the 80ies and 70ies. May be the producers took more effort into this new style, where as some of the younger vintages have been put on the market prematurely simply because of the high demand.

Peter, thanks a lot for these great additional informations!

Peter,

I agree with your premise. I think the reason that VM that is bottle-aged a few decades, appears to have seen little in the way of nuanced evolution is because the changes inherent in these old bottlings takes place at a glacial pace. I think a century and older, provides the time in which to create a bit of meaningful and discernible maturation in such bottles, although my experience with these bottlings is limited too.

We both understand the difference when left in the casks, that is pretty straightforward ... however when moved to demijohn (similar to a Garrafeira Port) or aged-in-bottle Madeira; it is far more difficult to perceive changes in bottles without considerable bottle-age. I have the same issue with young Colheita Port from the past 20 years, they just have not had enough time to develop the characteristics which make them really intriguing, like when they are older. Yes, they can be enjoyable when consumed, but if you've experienced the beauty of these wines with age ... there are other categories to enjoy for comparative or lesser pricing during these young stages.

Also, I am not a fan of most 1970s and 1980s VMs and I don't bother to buy them. I don't believe they are solid value for money and I also question their quality at this stage of their lives. Maybe 50-100 years will provide the time required for these to show much more than they do today. Therefore Colheita Madeiras are a rather good value for drinking while young, as they show more developed characteristics and especially the typicity of their grape.

It is great to have you here Peter and together we will continue to introduce people to the wonderful Madeiras that represent good value and not just the rarified Vintage Madeiras that are stupendous in terms of what they deliver, but also what they cost.