Quinta da Colmaça Colheita Porto 2010

The long eight-year maturation in oak barrels yields a fascinating, more evolved Port, amber-gold color typical of wood-aging, featuring jammy red fruit notes, along with hints of rancio, Havana tobacco, spices and cocoa, plus delicious, lingering roasted honey, vanilla and caramel flavors. The nose is highly aromatic, revealing notes of dried fruits (almonds, raisins), toffee, warm aromatic herbs, ripe blackberry, crushed cherry, pepper, toast and sweet spices. As is the case with all true Ports, this keeps well and remains virtually unchanged over time, even after the bottle has been opened.

Produced in the Douro region of Portugal, this Colheita (single harvest) Port was originally a superb batch capable of becoming an excellent Single Vintage Port. For commercial reasons -- specifically to diversify and round out their product range -- the estate decided to age it for eight years in oak barrels. This distinguishes it from "Vintage" Ports, which are bottled shortly after production in the Bordeaux style. Bottled in 2019, the "angel's share" (evaporation loss) amounted to 50%.

Quinta da Colmaça is a tiny, truly exclusive estate situated on magnificent terroir ranked at the very top of the historical hierarchy of Douro Port vineyards. For centuries, it has produced magnificent yet rare -- and thus highly sought-after -- Ports, as well as rich, flavorful red wines and delicious organic olive oil.