How to serve a 1991 Niepoort colheita

[novillero]

Novice questions:

Does this port require decanting? If so, how long before serving?

Right now, it's stored on its side in a cool dark place. I plan on serving it Friday night.

Serving temp? Room temp?

[Alex Bridgeman]

Personal preference speaking here, but I would decant a colheita 4-6 hours before drinking and serve it slightly chilled - pop the decanter into the fridge for half an hour before drinking.

[mosesbotbol]

Personal preference speaking here, but I would decant a colheita 4-6 hours before drinking and serve it slightly chilled - pop the decanter into the fridge for half an hour before drinking.

Sounds about right to me.

[novillero]

thanks.

and apologies, it is a 1990, bottled in 1998.

[Glenn E.]

Normally tawnies don't need to be decanted at all - they're intended to be consumed shortly after being bottled and so are ready to go. Once they start to accumulate some age in bottle, though, some decanting can help them show at their best. So since this Colheita has 15 years of bottle age on it, I agree with Alex and Moses. I don't know that you'll need a full 4-6 hours, but a couple of hours to let it air out and adjust before drinking is a good idea.

As for temperature, starting with it slightly chilled will allow you to see how the temperature change affects it. I usually find that they're best just barely below room temperature in the 65-68 degree range (about 18-20 C, I believe). At cellar temp (55 F or 13 C) the flavors are a bit muted and the nose is much less expressive. So while I expect that you'll like it best at the warmer end of the scale, it's a worthy experiment to start with it at the cooler end.

[mosesbotbol]

I like Colheita and Tawny on the cooler side, it brings out the acidity more. Think of it as this, the port will warm up no matter what, but it won't cool down unless you put it somewhere cold.