1968 Niepoort Colheita (bottled 1982)

[Alex Bridgeman]

Bottled 1982. Plenty of large particulates, deep orange in colour; 30% opaque. Soft on the nose, lots of heat, marzipan and cocktail cherries. Very closed. Sweet on the first impression, generous dose of acidity and then a good medium body and lots of sweet quince and marmalade orange. Big aftertaste and a big finish that is full of intensity and of great length. Very persistent. This faded after time in the glass, becoming more flabby, sweet and with the acidity more pronounced. 85 at best, 83 once faded. Drunk 11 November 2011, opened and served.

[RAYC]

Very interesting port that was in bottle more than twice as long as it was in wood. Lovely dimpled glass with stencilled writing.

Smooth, sweet, good acidity and orange/carmelised sugar. Pleasant soft medicinal quality that was rather attractive. I do prefer VP, but would be happy to drink this more often. Would be interesting to put up against a Niepoort 1968 colheita bottled recently and a 1996/1998 colheita bottled recently. *** (88)