Description
In a nutshell, Colheita Port is a single vintage-dated Tawny Port. It is similar to Tawny Port in production, appearance and flavor, but the key difference is that Colheita is the product of a single vintage and can therefore show considerable variation from year to year.
Colheita is aged in wood for at least seven years, giving it a nutty, oxidized character. Although legally required to spend seven years in a barrel, it often spends as long as 20 years. During this time, the wine undergoes oxidative aging, making it closer in style to Aged Tawny than any other Port style.
The word colheita is Portuguese for “harvest” or “vintage”, but it is stylistically quite different from Vintage Port, which is typically more robust and barrel-aged for no more than a few years. The same process as Vintage Port is required for a Colheita year to be “declared”. Samples are submitted to the Institute of Douro and Porto Wine in January, two years after harvest and after quality assessment, vintage declarations are made by the institute at the end of June.
