1937 Antonio Jose Da Silva Colheita Port

[Trip]

Had this after lunch today at Dad’s house. I have several questions about this wine that hopefully someone else can answer. But first, the tasting note:

Intoxicating nose of green walnuts and golden raisins with perhaps a hint of cedar lurking in the deep background. The wine was in perfect balance when tasted, with a predominant flavor of melted butterscotch followed by a very long finish of almost pure vanilla. 96/100

Now, the questions. To begin with, the bottle contained exactly 1 pint (9 FL. OZ.) of wine. I’ve never seen that before. Is this a common size for older bottles?

Second, the wine does not say Colheita anywhere on the bottle. I’m simply inferring that from the rest of the label. In addition to the words PORTO 1937 painted in white on the original bottle, there is a paper label that says, among other things, “GENUINE IMPORTED PORTWINE OF THE 1937 VINTAGE,” and on the small back label it reads “This Portwine has been produced in the best vineyards of the Duoro District, in Portugal, and has AGED IN WOOD.” I assume these are all cryptic references to the wine being a Colheita, but I may be wrong about that.

Also, assuming it is a Colheita, how can I find out how long it aged in wood before being bottled? The bottle does have a number on it, and that may help, but other than that, I haven’t a clue. Seems to me that Colheitas should always say how long they were aged in wood before bottling, but few seem to. Any info would be appreciated.

I wish I had more. . .

[Derek T.]

"Trip",

Can I ask you to please return to your profile and fill in some more informatio about who you are? We have no secrets here and, as a result, pride ourseves as being the friendliest wine forum on the net.

Your bottle certainly sounds like a colheita. It is difficult to date these bottles but if you have a picture of the bottle and the seal that you can send us it may help. You can find my e-mail address in my profile.

Derek

[Trip]

Derek,

Thanks for the reply. I don't stop by this forum very often, and did notice that my profile is empty except for my first name. I can't quite seem to figure out how to alter it. Soon as I do, I'll provide more info.

FYI, I'm a lawyer in Atlanta, Georgia, a wine collector/drinker, and a very bad golfer.

The wine must be a Colheita. However, unless the maker can provide some info on when this wine was bottled, I can't think of any other way to get that info. As Colheitas can remain in wood from 4 years (I think) to forever, it seems logical that producers should put a "bottled date" on the label. There must be a reason why this isn't generally done, but I can't imagine what it might be.

Cheers.

Trip Johnson
Atlanta, Georgia

[Andy Velebil]

Welcome Trip.

If you could upload a small pic of the front and back of the bottle that may help us in identifying it. Old bottles were sometimes labeled quite strangly.

[Trip]

I have the computer skills of a . . .lawyer. So, I cannot link a photo. However, two photos of this bottle can be found here:

http://www.pbase.com/cjohnsonmd/image/75499108

http://www.pbase.com/cjohnsonmd/image/75499109

Let me know if this doesn't work. Many thanks.

Trip Johnson
Atlanta, Georgia

[Derek T.]

Trip,

This certainly looks like a Colheita - the label has obviously been added after the white painted lettering. can you tell by looking through the back of the bottle if there are any more white painted words underneath the label?

In terms of age, the neck label is of the old style which, I believe, was replaced by the current style in the 1970's. So it has been in the bottle for at least 30 years but I would say the label looks even older than that.

I have never come across a bottle containing exactly 1 pint. This may be a volume that was only produced for the US market and perhaps this is your best chance of accurately dating the bottle. I know that the US has fairly strict legislation on the bottle sizes for imported alcohol so you may be able to trace back to a time when 1 pint was an allowable bottle size.

Good luck

Derek

[Al B.]

Although I agree that this is likely to be a colheita from the 1937 vintage, I don't think this is necessarily certain. I can't see the reference to "aged in wood" but this does indicate that it would likely be a colheita although even VP is aged in wood for 2-3 years before being bottled.

The label states that the wine was bottled and shipped by da Silva in Portugal. It states that da Silva was established in 1813, over 155 years ago. This would put the labelling date around 1968, consistent with Derek's comment on the type of Selos on the neck. Unfortunately, both Selos and label will have been applied when the bottle was released from the cellars in Vila Nova da Gaia so this does not give us a clue as to when the wine was bottled, only that it was exported to the US between 1968 and 1970.

The 1 pint bottle is a size that I have never seen used in Portugal before. I have occasionally seen this as a UK bottling by a UK wine merchant and then generally for Vintage Port. In size it is pretty close to the 50cl bottle that Roy is championing.

Overall, I would guess that the most likely wine inside the bottle is a 1937 Colheita that was bottled fairly close to export, perhaps in 1967 as bottlings often seem to have occured on anniversary dates (the only 1937 colheita I have tried was bottled in 1987).

Regards,

Alex

[Trip]

Thanks to you both for the interesting information. If I ever run across this one again, I'll snap it up. Old Colheitas are historically interesting and just plane delicious!

[Derek T.]

It states that da Silva was established in 1813, over 155 years ago. This would put the labelling date around 1968,

Good spot Alex

[Roy Hersh]

If you remember the PORT OF ATLANTA article I penned last year, it was Trip and his father that organized this extraordinary Port tasting. Please extend a hand and welcome him.

I am on the fly in FL and am just checking in. IF I get a chance I'll add my two cents as I have had this bottling and still own one.

Roy

[Steven Kooij]

The style of neck label does indeed implicate a pre-1975 bottling. The bottle is labelled AJ da Silva instead of Noval: might this be an indication to the bottling date? I would be interesting to see whether there is more under the paper label.

Regarding the bottle size: I don’t think it is uncommon as it is simply NOT a pint-sized bottle. The label should be read as 1 pint AND 9 fl. oz., not 1 pint (9fl. oz) – 1 pint is 16 fl. oz., IIRC.
Covert these archaic measurements into a more civilised one, and you’ll see this bottle holds about 75 cl.

[Andy Velebil]

I would agree Steven,

If you look closely the label appears to read "1 PT (unreadable..assuming 9) FL. OZ." That would indicate to me too, its a regular 750ml bottle.

But the bottle does look old, as the crest on it doesnt appear to be machine made. It is quite oblong and looks to have been done by hand (unless it is supposed to look that way) The crest says ".....Port" but from the picture I can't read the one or two words above "Port".

[Trip]

Steven and Andy,

I have the bottle sitting next to my computer as I type this, and can clear up a few issues. First, the bottle is roughly the size of a .375 ml bottle, although the shape is rather unique. The bottom left of the label gives the size as "1 PT. 9 FL. OZ." However . . . to further confuse the issue, I just filled the empty bottle with water and then poured the contents into a measuring cup. It was almost exactly 12 fl. oz. That makes absolutely no sense in light of the info on the label, but there it is.

The bottle itself looks quite old to me. It seems roughly made, but does have a seam down each side, indicating that it was made in a mold (I presume). If I can answer any other questions, please let me know. Perhaps Roy will have some additional info when he has time to look at his bottle. Cheers.

[Steven Kooij]

Hi Trip; an interesting bottle indeed! If you have the bottle at hand: what does the glass crest read? Can you see (or perhaps feel) whether there is more stenciling under the front label? Thanks!

[Trip]

Steven,

The glass crest simply reads "Dasilvas AJS PORT." I cannot tell if there is more stenciling under the label without destroying it, but I do not believe there is.

[Andy Velebil]

Seems like they just threw on what ever label they had on hand that day, as the label is for a 750ml bottle. Which, is not impossible given that rules were not always followed in the old days.

Because of the size, I wonder if this was originally intended as a sample bottle for the Port trade that later got sold at retail?? Maybe the DaSilva people found a case or two hiding in a dark corner of the cellars and decided to get rid of them???

Just throwing some ideas out loud here.

[simon Lisle]

I have come across many simialar bottles at auction they are all 1930's or 40's bottled around late 60's early 70,s auction price £80 to £100.I have bought one 1940 bottled in 1972 I have not tasted it yet.