Kopke 80 Years Old TAWNY Porto in Holzkiste

This is one of the rarest wines in the Kopke range, an 80 Years Old Tawny from the house founded in 1638 and the oldest name in Port. The number on the label is the average age of the wines in the blend, meaning components that have rested in ancient wood for the better part of a century sit at the heart of it.

Such extreme cask ageing is the whole story. Generations of slow oxidation and evaporation concentrate the wine to a deep amber with greenish hues, strip away all primary fruit and build layer upon layer of dried and spiced complexity, while somehow preserving a bracing natural acidity that keeps the wine alive on the palate.

Aromas move from resinous exotic wood and shade herbs into tangerine pith, dried apricot, fig, cocoa and incense. The palate is silky and sharply acidic, unfolding licorice and spiced dried fruit before a lingering close of coffee and clove. Serve in small measures as a wine to contemplate, with dried fruit and nuts, dark chocolate or on its own.