This is a young but well-aged colheita from Kopke, belonging to the absolute top of the tawny genre.
Colheita is the category that few wine enthusiasts have a handle on, what is and what the designation covers. Unlike blended tawny, colheita is from one and the same vintage, and for the same reason it will exhibit the characteristics of the vintage. In addition, the colheita must be aged for a minimum of seven years: Kopke, however, voluntarily raises the bar and only releases wines with 10+ years of aging
Despite its young age for the genre, this 2013er with 10 years of oxidative aging in ancient oak casks is complex colheita with the vintage’s beautiful acidity and character of dried fruit rather than caramel, a characteristic of Kopke’s port wines.
After 10 years of oxidative aging, the wine was bottled in 2023, and it now appears delicious and ready to drink. The original dramatic fruit is now almost gone, and what remains is a wine dominated by aging aromas consisting of prunes, nuts, powdered sugar and pickled, candied citrus. There is great intensity and fullness and the sweet farewell is nicely balanced by the acid. The aftertaste has exemplary length, which more than justifies the price.
After opening, the wine is stable for approx. 3-5 weeks if stored cool after opening. After that, the wine just slowly gets weaker and loses a bit of focus as the days go by, so don’t panic if there are a few glasses left in an open bottle…
And remember: this type of wine does NOT get better from being stored. It is best bottled fresh and does not develop positively in the bottle. However, it cleverly keeps top form for a handful of years, so there is no rush.
Served at 12-16°. Remember to pour into a spacious white wine glass so that the aromas have the opportunity to unfold.
