For The Love Of Port

Up in the Colorado Rockies for some snowboarding, I wandered into Frisco Liquors. With about 15' of storefront, my expectations were low and remained that way as I wandered around the front room. Then I noticed the back room, and therein discovered a rack with a surprising array of dessert wines, including some LBVs, colheitas, and numerous VPs. I think there were choices from 2003, 2000, 1997, 1994, and a 1983 (but no '85). I wrote down the prices of several 1994s and 1980 Niepoort Colheita for later comparison, and grabbed a 1997 Barros Colheita. I didn't know if this was any good, but 1997 is my wedding anniversary year, and this bottle wasn't a big risk at about $40. (It turns out a few of the '94s were priced just a little more than what I could find on wine-searcher.com, and the Niepoort is a deal I'm going to pick up the next time I'm up in Frisco. The storage conditions aren't ideal, however, so I probably won't buy too many of them.)

The bottle was opened the evening of purchase, and stored at room temp the first couple of nights in the mountains. My friend the sommelier brought up a Barolo Chinato Cocchi (I liked :)) and we had plenty of other beverages, so we didn't finish off the Barros during this short stint in the high country. After bringing the bottle home, I kept it in the fridge and sampled it periodically over the last two and a half weeks. I finished it off tonight.

The label indicates this was bottled in 2006. It is my understanding that colheitas are more like tawnies with a vintage year than VPs, and the bottle had a T-stopper, so I didn't decant or filter. Nothing on the label indicated filtered or unfiltered. Upon pouring, however, I wondered about this.


Bigger glass image
Bigger bottle image

Visually, this port is not clear. It is in fact a bit hazy. Maybe I should have filtered it? The color is more amber brown, as you can see in the picture. The aroma was mildly alcoholic, with overtones of wood. With one pour I thought I also detected some earthy forest floor aromas, but I didn't get that tonight.

The mouthfeel was very middle of the road. This was certainly not syrupy, nor was it particularly thin.

The flavor proved somewhat elusive. There was a little fig, and serveral times I thought I could taste some plum, but nothing jumped out at me.

The finish was nice, not too harsh, but with a bit of alcohol.

Overall impression: This was a pleasant surprise as a find, but not something I need to buy again.

Eric,

You are correct - Colheita is to Tawny Port as Vintage is to Ruby Port. It is the Portuguese word for "vintage" or "harvest." The main difference (perhaps the only difference) between Colheitas and VPs is that Colheitas are aged in barrels while Vintage Ports are aged in bottle. They're both made out of grapes from a single harvest.

If I remember correctly, a Colheita must be aged in barrels for a minimum of 7 years (it might be 8...) before it can be bottled and released. In practice they are usually aged for much longer - often decades like VP - but occasionally there are bottles like the 1997 Barros that you found which have much more minimal aging. That's why it is always important to check the bottling date on a Colheita - it is theoretically possible to find the "same" Colheita with very different bottling years, which can result in very different Ports.

I have had cloudy Colheitas before, and as near as I can tell it has no real effect on the Port. I've even had cloudy and clear bottles of the same Port before, and my admittedly inexperienced palate could not tell the difference.