1997 Barros Colheita Port

[Lamont Huxley]

Bottled in 2010.

I've been sipping on this bottle for the last 5 or 6 days and it's held up fairly well without and significant decline. The color is a hazy, dark reddish amber with rusty orange highlights. It's unusually cloudy in the glass even after having plenty of time to settle. Mixed nuts and pastry dough are dominant on the nose with some dried cherry and orange zest in the background. The palate shows moderate concentration with caramel at the forefront and subtle berry/citrus fruit behind it. The flavors seem to disappear for a moment on the back end but then resolve into a long finish of roasted hazelnuts which I find to be the strongest aspect of this port. At a price comparable to a 10 Yr. Tawny I'd say this is a solid value. Not the prettiest wine to look at but a tasty glass nonetheless. I still can't quite decide between 89 and 90. 89/90 pts, Tasted 2/11

[Andy Velebil]

Barros makes some very nice Colheita's and their VP's are getting better, which is great to see. I know I've had this, but I'll be darn if I can find my notes on it right now. The cloudiness, if not sediment stirred up, may be due to being exposed to very cold temps. If so, generally when it warms up that should eventually clear up as well.

[Lamont Huxley]

Barros makes some very nice Colheita's and their VP's are getting better, which is great to see. I know I've had this, but I'll be darn if I can find my notes on it right now. The cloudiness, if not sediment stirred up, may be due to being exposed to very cold temps. If so, generally when it warms up that should eventually clear up as well.

There was no sign of sediment and allowing it to come to room temperature for an extended amount of time didn't seem to make much difference either. Interestingly, the other two TNs posted on this Colheita both mention a hazy/cloudy appearance. Perhaps it's just a characteristic of this particular wine?