ThePortForum.com

Hi all

This weekend I had a revelation. When I came back from Lisbon a few weeks ago I brought with me a bottle of 1974 Kopke Colheita as an experiment, and last Friday I fancied some port but couldn't be bothered with a whole bottle of vintage, so I popped it. Long story short; I love it.

I think I've always preferred the bottles of vintage port I've had that have had a slightly tawny profile (caramel flavours, less young fruit, etc) and now I think I should be looking out for and trying some more colheita to see how I get on with some other years and shippers. The problem is that it seems to be a lot harder to find, vintage wine and port gifts has few but at 'gift' prices. I know vintage is the preferred style of most people here, but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for places to try getting 30+ year old colheita at reasonable cost?

Cheers, Rich.

Welcome to the dark side!

The internet will probably be your best bet. Provenance on aged Tawny Ports isn't as important as it is for aged Vintage Ports, so you shouldn't worry too much about ordering online. Do be aware, though, that the bottling date is relevant (and usually unlisted) for all tawnies. You may have to call/email the internet store and ask in order to find out when a listing was bottled. Generally speaking you want the most current bottling possible, so listings with bottle age (more than, say, 3 years) should be sold at some discount over fresh bottlings.

I could offer you a number of internet retailers in the US, but unfortunately I'm not familiar with any in Europe. Hopefully someone else will be able to provide you with some suggestions.

By the way, I found the 1984 Kopke Colheita to offer 90% of the pleasure of the 1974, but at roughly half the price... see if you can find that one for a cheaper alternative. Another superb Colheita that should be readily available right now is the 1976 Krohn. There is a 2015 bottling of that Colheita, so there should be a decent supply in the market.

Glenn E. wrote:Welcome to the dark side!

I'm thinking I may have to hand in my forum resignation if this continues

Glenn E. wrote: By the way, I found the 1984 Kopke Colheita to offer 90% of the pleasure of the 1974, but at roughly half the price... see if you can find that one for a cheaper alternative. Another superb Colheita that should be readily available right now is the 1976 Krohn. There is a 2015 bottling of that Colheita, so there should be a decent supply in the market.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've spotted the '76 Krohn on one of the few retailers websites I've found, so that sounds like a good bet to try next.

Cheers, Rich.

richmills wrote:

Glenn E. wrote:Welcome to the dark side!

I'm thinking I may have to hand in my forum resignation if this continues

Shh. They underestimate our power.

Glenn E. wrote:

richmills wrote:

Glenn E. wrote:Welcome to the dark side!

I'm thinking I may have to hand in my forum resignation if this continues

Shh. They underestimate our power.

Rumbled, have been you all.

I noticed this site when browsing around today: http://prestigewinesportugal.com/

Their Colheita's look very reasonably priced, particularly the Dalva range, and they offer free shipping on orders over £99.

Worth a try?

Don't overlook using http://www.wine-searcher.com to find retail sources of colheita wines in the UK.

DRT wrote:I noticed this site when browsing around today: http://prestigewinesportugal.com/

Their Colheita's look very reasonably priced, particularly the Dalva range, and they offer free shipping on orders over £99.

Worth a try?

That looks like exactly what I'm after, thanks!

I'd not considered looking for vendors in Portugal, I assumed the shipping would be prohibitive but free shipping over £99 looks to solve that problem.

I feel a cheeky Christmas order coming on

My site lists a couple of good ones from Barros. I love their Colheita ports and they are regarded as one of the leading brands in this style of port. If you want just a bottle to try I have no minimum and one of my current favourites is the 1996 http://www.wineman.co.uk/product/barros ... -port-1996

richmills wrote:

DRT wrote:I noticed this site when browsing around today: http://prestigewinesportugal.com/

Their Colheita's look very reasonably priced, particularly the Dalva range, and they offer free shipping on orders over £99.

Worth a try?

That looks like exactly what I'm after, thanks!

I'd not considered looking for vendors in Portugal, I assumed the shipping would be prohibitive but free shipping over £99 looks to solve that problem.

I feel a cheeky Christmas order coming on

Be just slightly wary of using a distance seller based in another EU country. UK Customs interprets the rules on free movement of alcoholic products for personal use as applying only when you accompany the goods. If you were to buy the bottles from Prestige Wines Portugal on a Portuguese duty and VAT paid basis and then fly to collect them there would be no problem. However, if you have them posted to you the situation is unclear and - at least in theory - they could arrive at your door together with a demand to pay HMRC the UK duty and VAT. The chances are that HMRC have bigger things to look at, but at least be aware of the risks.

I am big fan 1982 Kopke, but prices on that vintage are higher than on some vintages right around that year...

Hi Guys,

I know this thread has not been used for a while but as I am considering to order at prestige wines of portugal as well I was wondering if anyone of you now actually used the online shop and if you could give a short review?

It's just a bit suspicious as there are almost no reviews or anything in the web about them....

Thank you

Haistel wrote:Hi Guys,

I know this thread has not been used for a while but as I am considering to order at prestige wines of portugal as well I was wondering if anyone of you now actually used the online shop and if you could give a short review?

It's just a bit suspicious as there are almost no reviews or anything in the web about them....

Thank you

Well I did indeed use them last year for a Christmas order and they came through fine. A little slower than I was expecting (about 10 days door to door), but answered all my questions promptly.

I notice their prices aren't quite as competitive for Kopke now as they were so I'm not sure I'll be using them again unless that changes, but based on my one usage last year I have no complaints.

Cheers, Rich.