2004
Douro

Fortified Colheita

Category Port
Varietal Colheita
Range Collection
Region Douro
Wine Style Rich & generous
Food Pairing Chocolate, crème brûlée, roasted nuts, dried fruits, a strong blue cheese such as Stilton.

Description

A lusciously sweet and and spicy Tawny Port from a single harvest or colheita.

This fortified wine is a blend of the classic Douro black grapes Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and small amounts of other local varieties. They were grown in elevated vineyards near São João da Pesqueira in the Cima Corgo, which is in the middle of Douro, Portugal, where the best wines of the region originate.

This Colheita is the sort of special, rare wine that the Portuguese usually keep for themselves.

TASTING NOTES

A classic Tawny Port with notes of fig, liquorice and cinnamon spice. It is lusciously sweet with aged character of toasted nuts and caramel.

SERVING TEMPERATURE | 10 - 14°

SEASON

Spring rainfall was well below average and summer was dry and hot before a cool spell in autumn. Many vineyards experienced water stress, which, combined with very slow ripening, caused concern until rains late in the season gave a welcome boost and the sunshine returned for the run home to harvest of healthy, ripe fruit from mid-September.

WINEMAKING

This wine is a blend of the classic Douro black grapes – Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and small amounts of other local varieties. The fruit was destemmed and fermented slowly in temperature-controlled vats to maximise colour and flavour extraction. Fermentation was arrested with a generous amount of natural fruit sweetness remaining and the wine was fortified then aged in wood barrels known as balseiro until bottling in late 2019.

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