50 Years Old White Port was approved as a new category in 2022. Kopke, a leading force in barrel-aged ports, has created a wine monument on their first attempt.
Kopke has blended ancient white ports from their cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia to craft this unique port wine, which is fortunately not only unique but tastes and smells extraordinarily heavenly—a meditation wine from the very top shelf.
Good white port has only become fashionable in the last 10–15 years, so the stock of white, oxidatively aged port is just a fraction of the tawny reserves. This limited supply results in a higher price compared to tawny ports of a similar age.
In a wine like this, well-preserved wines of appropriate age and an experienced cellar master are essential for success. Age alone is no guarantee of good port—it requires a wine where thoughtful aging provides the right balance between elements, and an experienced master blender creates unity from a patchwork of barrels and vintages. This has been fully achieved with this reference wine, which raises the quality bar to the highest level.
This is white port with immense intensity, where decades of evaporation have concentrated the wine and given it outstanding complexity. Notes of sultana raisins, candied prunes, citrus peel, cinnamon, toasted wood aromas, muscovado sugar, and rancio and oxidation aromas. Everything is balanced by a brilliant freshness of acidity, which tempers the substantial residual sugar. The aftertaste lasts for minutes rather than seconds.
Enjoy with reverence, preferably without food but in good company.
We recommend a serving temperature of 11–15°C and using a spacious white wine glass to let the aromas fully unfold.
The wine stays fresh for several weeks after opening, especially when stored in the refrigerator.
96 points Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
96 points Wine Spectator
