For The Love Of Port

blind tasting on 12/26 at Roy's house (8 total wines)

1966 Kopke Colheita

Brown and tan, with just a hint of red remaining. I didn't note any green around the rim. The nose contains VA and leather, along with possibly some shoe polish. At this point, I'm thinking this must be a Madeira.

Wrong. Very robust in the mouth, with dried apricots and oak being the most prominent flavors. Some very faint vanilla, and some cinnamon. It's much too sweet to be even a Malmsey, so it has to be a Tawny. Given the roundness of the mouth feel and the full, rich, flavors it seems like it must be a blend. My first guess is a 20-yr old, possibly even the Ferreira Duque de Braganca. Some discussion of Colheitas ensues, at which point I note that if it is a Colheita it has to be at least 40 years old, and probably a 1966.

Whee! I got one right. To no one's surprise, this was my WOTN. As I recall, it was also Roy's and Kris's.

What's annoying is that the distinctive Kopke bottle didn't tip me off. Since it was shorter than all of the others, I thought it was a half bottle until I picked it up, and even then didn't really clue in to the Kopke shape. In my defense this was bottle #5, and I am a lightweight.

Edit: fixed annoying (to me) typo

Yes, but you showed improved stamina considering 7 Ports and a Madeira too. So give yourself a break. A very fine bottle and I wish I had saved a couple of ounces for the next day to see how it showed, but I believe I still have a couple downstairs. Delish juice!

I finished the bottle on Sunday, and it had gone just a little bit flat by then. It was still wonderful, but it just didn't have quite the same roundness in the mouth that it did on Friday night.

This sounds a lot more impressive than a 1977 we consumed this past weekend (from 375 bottled in 2006).
Here's my CT note:"Nice aromas of coffee, toffee, and sweet dried fruit. There is a little scent of VA here as well. The flavor was nicely balanced with good acidity though this was a little light in texture and overall could have used more complexity. Pleasant but not monumental."

I guess i need to hunt the 66 down.

I like the '77 Rocha better than the '77 Kopke, but my preference is reversed for 1966. The '77 Rocha is hard to find, though, because there is no more in the cellar. Whatever's left in the hands of distributors and retailers is all that's left.