The Portuguese word colheita means ‘harvest’. A Colheita Port must be from a single year and aged for a minimum of seven years in wood before bottling. In practice, many are aged for considerably longer (as is the case at Noval), and so Colheita Ports can vary greatly in style.
Noval’s Colheita is only made in exceptional years, when certain lots of wine with great aging potential are set aside to be aged in cascos (old casks with a capacity of 640 litres). When Noval feels the wine is ready—usually after about 15 years—a portion is bottled for release. The rest of the stocks will continue to age in barrel for bottlings in the future.
In a very sweet spot, the beautifully refined 1995 exhibits umami (mushroom broth) and tilled earth notes, well integrated into a bright fruit and floral-noted palate underscored by tight and classically structured framework. With a vibrancy that defies its years, this beauty still has a long way to go (if desired).