1937 Warre's Colheita Port
Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:12 am
This bottle capped off a special wine dinner with friends to celebrate a major Bday that includes the number "5" :? And a bit of a story that goes along with this bottle: A couple of years ago I attended a tasting hosted by Dominic Symington here in the Bay Area of Warre's Ports. A 1937 Colheita was the final wine poured, and was a truly spectacular finish. But at the price being asked I couldn't make myself pull the trigger - although I often thought about that wine. Several months later I saw it go on sale at the shop, still above my price threshold, but itchingly close 
I thought about justifying the purchase by saying I would keep it to celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary (2037 would make this a 100 year-old wine, something pretty special, right?). Did some research on how Colheitas tend to age, and it wasn't entirely clear that the wine would have kept itself for another 30+ years - or me for that matter 
Then started thinking this would make a perfect wine to drink for a special birthday.
Of course, by this time the lone remaining bottle was gone at that store. Another store had shown it in stock on Wine Searcher, but it too was gone. Seemingly none to be found in the States, with some showing in Europe - but I have had little success trying to buy wines in Europe and have them sent to a friend or business colleague who would carry them here for me, shops over there just don't seem to be as adept at taking credit cards from foreign strangers over the internet :? I tried contacting the importer, who contacted the Domaine, but struck out on all fronts. I was dead in the water. A few months later, I read a post on another wine forum requesting info for a trip to Barcelona. Not someone who had many posts, nor had I met him or chatted with him through that forum, but what the heck. I knew that there were a couple of stores in Barcelona that had the wine. I PM'd him with my sad story, and asked if he'd be willing to buy the bottle and bring it back (he lives in Santa Barbara, not that far from the Bay Area). Offered to send him a check in advance. Well, there was no response, and I just assumed he hadn't seen my request before taking off on the trip, or didn't want to be bothered and ignored it. How surprised was I when I got an email from him (while in Barcelona!) to tell me that he'd just seen the PM, and would be happy to buy the bottle! I didn't know what to say, I was in shock with the generosity and trust (this was not a cheap bottle, even in Spain). I've met so many great people on wine forums - both in cyberspace and in person. But to make an already too long story a bit shorter, the wine made it's way back to California, and into my hands last year when we had the chance to meet here in San Francisco. And now it's gone
Well, not entirely, as I'm sipping on a small glass squirreled away before last night's dinner, just to have some to savor tonight. One more little twist of fate: the bottle I received was actually not the same wine as that I had tasted. While it was 1937 Colheita, it had been bottled in 1992 instead of 2003 - which probably expains why the price was somewhat less than the price here. At any rate, it's the journey that is often what makes life so interesting, not necessarily the destination. And my guests didn't know the difference, and enjoyed it as much as they would have the more recent bottling.
1937 Warre's Colheita Port
There is considerable cloudiness, even though I had the bottle standing up for a week. Medium brown in color, it looks exactly like unfiltered apple juice. There is the classic maple, caramel, butterscotch nose. Flavors are intense, round, centered on butterscotch with notes of toffee and almonds. I've learned that there is no substitute for age to round out the corners of a wine. Young tawnies and colheitas often tend to be too sweet and piercing for my tastes, but this 1937 has smoothed out and softened to the point where it envelopes your taste buds in liquid concentration, but doesn't overwhelm them in any one dimension. Wonderful wine, and a fantastic way to end the evening - but it doesn't quite live up to my memory of the more recently bottled 37.
For contrast, here is the note I wrote for the later bottled wine: "Nose of brown sugar, caramel, butterscoth, cognac-like. The wine is viscous, creamy, with layers and layers of incredible flavors: orange rind, butterscotch, almonds. This was the most amazing liquid I have ever put in my mouth - I could taste the afterglow of this wine for the rest of the day." I suppose it's possible that last night's bottle had undergone some heat degradation over time, although I'm not really sure what that means for a wine that's been sitting in barrel for over 50 years with long term oxygen exposure. My guess is that sitting in bottle doesn't allow it to develop in the same way as remaining in the barrel for that time. The good news is that I'll be in Barcelona in about a year for a conference, and I'll be on the lookout for the wine bottled in 2003
Thanks for reading, and here's hoping you have something that makes you look forward to what is otherwise such a black day as much as this did for me
Regards,
Alan
I thought about justifying the purchase by saying I would keep it to celebrate my 50th wedding anniversary (2037 would make this a 100 year-old wine, something pretty special, right?). Did some research on how Colheitas tend to age, and it wasn't entirely clear that the wine would have kept itself for another 30+ years - or me for that matter Then started thinking this would make a perfect wine to drink for a special birthday.Of course, by this time the lone remaining bottle was gone at that store. Another store had shown it in stock on Wine Searcher, but it too was gone. Seemingly none to be found in the States, with some showing in Europe - but I have had little success trying to buy wines in Europe and have them sent to a friend or business colleague who would carry them here for me, shops over there just don't seem to be as adept at taking credit cards from foreign strangers over the internet :? I tried contacting the importer, who contacted the Domaine, but struck out on all fronts. I was dead in the water. A few months later, I read a post on another wine forum requesting info for a trip to Barcelona. Not someone who had many posts, nor had I met him or chatted with him through that forum, but what the heck. I knew that there were a couple of stores in Barcelona that had the wine. I PM'd him with my sad story, and asked if he'd be willing to buy the bottle and bring it back (he lives in Santa Barbara, not that far from the Bay Area). Offered to send him a check in advance. Well, there was no response, and I just assumed he hadn't seen my request before taking off on the trip, or didn't want to be bothered and ignored it. How surprised was I when I got an email from him (while in Barcelona!) to tell me that he'd just seen the PM, and would be happy to buy the bottle! I didn't know what to say, I was in shock with the generosity and trust (this was not a cheap bottle, even in Spain). I've met so many great people on wine forums - both in cyberspace and in person. But to make an already too long story a bit shorter, the wine made it's way back to California, and into my hands last year when we had the chance to meet here in San Francisco. And now it's gone
Well, not entirely, as I'm sipping on a small glass squirreled away before last night's dinner, just to have some to savor tonight. One more little twist of fate: the bottle I received was actually not the same wine as that I had tasted. While it was 1937 Colheita, it had been bottled in 1992 instead of 2003 - which probably expains why the price was somewhat less than the price here. At any rate, it's the journey that is often what makes life so interesting, not necessarily the destination. And my guests didn't know the difference, and enjoyed it as much as they would have the more recent bottling.1937 Warre's Colheita Port
There is considerable cloudiness, even though I had the bottle standing up for a week. Medium brown in color, it looks exactly like unfiltered apple juice. There is the classic maple, caramel, butterscotch nose. Flavors are intense, round, centered on butterscotch with notes of toffee and almonds. I've learned that there is no substitute for age to round out the corners of a wine. Young tawnies and colheitas often tend to be too sweet and piercing for my tastes, but this 1937 has smoothed out and softened to the point where it envelopes your taste buds in liquid concentration, but doesn't overwhelm them in any one dimension. Wonderful wine, and a fantastic way to end the evening - but it doesn't quite live up to my memory of the more recently bottled 37.
For contrast, here is the note I wrote for the later bottled wine: "Nose of brown sugar, caramel, butterscoth, cognac-like. The wine is viscous, creamy, with layers and layers of incredible flavors: orange rind, butterscotch, almonds. This was the most amazing liquid I have ever put in my mouth - I could taste the afterglow of this wine for the rest of the day." I suppose it's possible that last night's bottle had undergone some heat degradation over time, although I'm not really sure what that means for a wine that's been sitting in barrel for over 50 years with long term oxygen exposure. My guess is that sitting in bottle doesn't allow it to develop in the same way as remaining in the barrel for that time. The good news is that I'll be in Barcelona in about a year for a conference, and I'll be on the lookout for the wine bottled in 2003
Thanks for reading, and here's hoping you have something that makes you look forward to what is otherwise such a black day as much as this did for me
Regards,
Alan