This week’s wine of the week is this amazing Tawny Port from the Kopke brand owned by Sogevinus. Kopke is specialized in Colheitas. How do they differ from other ports? Colheita’s can also be thought of as a single vintage Tawny Port. They need to be aged for seven years in oak casks. The ports from this house are bottled when someone wants one with an elaborate system. They haven’t really gotten the play they should yet here in the states. I wonder if there is any data about how many people drink tawny port in the US. I wasn’t a Tawny port drinker myself until a couple of years ago.  I tasted my first Kopke at a seminar on Port at the Society of Wine Educators conference in 2016. It brought tears to my eyes. It was a 1966 and it was ethereal as only Port and Madeira can be.

The seminar was fantastic and they showed a film of a regatta on the Douro river. I was ready to pick up and move there tomorrow. Three weeks later I got a call asking if I wanted to go on a press trip to the Douro Valley. I went that September and I was hooked.

I’ve written many posts about that trip on this blog and have more to write.  The Kopke 1978 was everything I am looking for in Port – nuanced, layered, tertiary aromas and flavors with nuts and spices, depth and concentration. It was my magical ending to the New York Wine Experience tasting last Thursday.

What a wine, truly not to be missed. For a much more indepth look at Colheitas and port in general, check out this interesting blog, For the Love of Port..