Colheita Port  •  article

Colheita is an aged Tawny Port made with grapes from a single vintage, instead of an indicated age (10, 20, 40 years) the actual vintage year is mentioned. However, colheita ports are not to be confused with vintage ports. A Vintage Port is usually bottled within 2 years of harvest and it continues to mature in the bottle, a Colheita may have spent 20 years or more in wooden barrels before being bottled. By law, Colheitas must be matured in wooden barrels for a minimum of 7 years, although in practice they tend to be aged for much longer, sometimes up to 50 and more years. They are bottled only when the producer decides that the port is ready to drink. The label must show both the vintage and the bottling date. Some shippers have replaced the term “colheita’ with “single harvest reserve”.

Colheita (literally “harvest” or “crop”) is a relatively rare style of port, which is a shame, because many are exceptional. They share many of the characteristics of aged Tawny Ports, including their characteristic mahogany colour, but as wines of a single harvest the individual features of each year are distinctively reflected. They combine all the sweet, dried fruit and nutty finesse of an Aged Tawny with an individual Vintage character. This mellow nutty, slightly woody, fruit character is partly derived from contact with air during long maturation in porous wooden barrels. The risk of throwing sediment in the bottle is small, due to this long ageing in wood.

When and how to drink Colheita port

Once opened, you do not have to drink it all the same day. Just make sure it is stoppered well and leave it like that for as long as you wish. Next time you open it, the fine aromas and flavours will still be there.

Enjoy a glass of Colheita after dinner, with creamy cheeses, nuts, dried fruits, or by itself. Colheita makes one of the best pairings with a fine cigar.

Considered passé by many drinkers, fortified wines are not drunk often these days. They need to be special! The best Colheitas are very special indeed. Like my Today’s sampler:

Andresen Colheita 1982 Special Selection

Cigar pairing tasting, port tasting.

Colheita Port

Andresen is the only Port Hourse still bottling Colheita of 1900 and 1910 by demand, which means that these wines are sell kept in barrel. This is a perfect indication of their ageing potential.

This delicious drink delivers the notes of almonds, dried cherries, plum compote.

Cigars for pairing

cigar tasting, port tasting, cigar pairing colheita port

The bouquet and the heavy smooth structure of this Colheita will make a good alliance with a cigar full-bodied yet refined.

At first I tried to pair this Colheita port Andresen Colheita 1982 Special Selection with a cigar of a good quality but budget-friendly – Jose Marti (on the upper photo), but it was a mistake, did not go well. This type of a fine port requires to be pared with a cigar more sophisticated, multi-faceted, that has a deeper multitonal taste and richness. So my best pairing advice is: Cohiba Maduro 5 “Genios”.

But this wonderful port wine can be paired with a wide range of cigars of the high niche. For instance Trinidad Media Luna – to me, one of the universal cigars that suits for pairing with almost any drink.

port tasting

Port Tasting – Degustation of the Port Andresen Colheita 1982

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Victoria Radugina © August 2014


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