For The Love Of Port

Hey all, amazing community you've got here. I'm interested in the thoughts of the further-initiated...

I've always liked Port. That is, until I had the '66 Messias Colheita. It was an awakening, a redefinition of what taste could be. Now I love port.

Drama aside, it's also how I came the realization that I must own a bottle for myself. I knew this particular '66 would be incredibly hard to find locally.I knew I'd have to settle - but I'm wondering if I may have settled too much. I ended up with a '65 Kopke Colheita which I'm sure is great in its own right but, after finding this site, I realize it was sold to me under a few misconceptions by my local expert wine seller (not sarcasm,they're good, but the level of expertise on this site blows them away on this subject).

The main thing I'm concerned with is that the '66 is such a notable year in the port world. They told me that '65 would be "about the same" - from what I've read from all of you is that this isn't the case. Maybe a minor note but this is the first time I've spent this kind of money on a bottle ($180cdn) and I didn't really want to take a shortcut. Plus, the nostalgia of the '66 changing how I look at port has to be worth something, right?

I guess my question is, if this happened to you dedicated folks, would you return it and chase the '66 or should I just be happy with what I ended up with? I think I'm mostly bothered by the "misrepresentation" (strong word) that '65 was as an amazing year as any other.

Thanks for your thoughts!
Chris

I am a 65 baby and can tell you that it was a fantastic year for Colheita. The Krohn is excellent, as are a number of others.

1966 is more famous as a Vintage Port year and it is quite rare to find a Colheita, presumably because most of the best juice went into the VP.

I agree that your retailer doesn't seem to know what they are talking about, but the outcome for you isn't as bad as you might have feared

As Derek said, the fame of the 1966 vintage comes from the excellence of the Vintage Ports that were produced. Luckily for you, Tawny Port - of which Colheita is one type - turns out best in slightly different (though not fully understood) conditions. While there are often superb Colheitas made from famous VP years, such as 1966, there are just as often superb Colheitas made from "non-VP" years such as 1965.

Kopke happens to be one of the best producers of Colheitas, and as Derek said they made a really good one in 1965. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

BTW if you liked the 1966 Messias, see if you can find a 1966 Kopke. It will be very expensive - lately they've been over $250 here in the US when you can even find them - but it will blow you away. Again.

Messias made a good VP in 1966 I had a case in the 70's.

It's hard to find Colheita in any major declared vintage like 1966, but the odds are they'll be really good!