1931 Viuva José Gomes da Silva & Filhos Colares Reserva Tinto

Community Tasting Notes (4) Avg Score: 93.8 points

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  11/23/2021 - Matthesen wrote: 94 Points

  Pretty red fruit with interesting menthol lift. Palate med- body but shows tannin and balancing acidity. Hard to believe it is 90 years old. Long finish - dry but quite a bit of acidity provides a mouth watering finish. A bit Barolo-like and really quite good. Hard to find many regions where a 90-year old wine is both drinkable and vibrant. Outstanding!

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  9/16/2017 - forceberry wrote: 96 Points

  11% alcohol. Bottled in the traditional 0,65 liter bottle. Might be bottled in 1973 (at least that is the year the seal around the cork shows).
  
  Translucent and strikingly youthful dark cherry color - considering the 86 years of age of the wine - with a tawny hue and a pale, rusty rim. The nose is equally striking in its still surprisingly fruity and expressive aromas of ripe sour cherries, some wizened, pruney fruits, a little bit of smoked beef jerky, a hint of tobacco and a touch of dried black cherry. Although you can easily notice that the wine is old, the wine is still so fresh and alive you'd guess it was less than half of its real age! The wine is medium-bodied and ridiculously tightly-knit and textural on the palate with high, almost racy acidity and still very plentiful and grippy tannins. There is still sense of ripeness of fruit, so even at 86 years of age the wine is not just about tertiary flavors, but instead retains some of its original fruity character in its flavors of sour cherries, wizened and tart dark berries, some black cherry, tobacco, a little bit of salt-cured beef, a hint of tangy salinity and a touch of leather. Great structure and terrific focus. The savory finish is long, complex and lively with intense flavors of sour cherries, tobacco, some salted beef, a little bit of tart cranberry and a hint of smoke with an overarching streak of developed earthy tones.
  
  A stunning, still very structured and beautifully intact old Colares that feels ridiculously youthful for a wine at 86 years of age. Although the wine seems old, it doesn't feel much older than a Colares 45 years younger, that was tasted alongside it. Based on our tasting of old Colares wines, it seems that these wines age for something like 30-40 years and then they enter a phase of indefinite hibernation, because after a certain point they don't seem to develop any further. They just stay the same until they fall apart and oxidize. What's most remarkable here is how this wine hasn't been overwhelmed completely by the tertiary flavors - unlike some younger (but still old) Colares wines - but it still retains some fruit and sense of ripeness, after almost a century. The result is something that reminds me of aged cooler-climate Nebbiolo wine, like Boca, Carema or Gattinara. Based on how youthful this wine still is, it can be easily kept until the 100th birthday of the wine and even longer. Although not a big and "impressive" wine, this is still easily one of the most extraordinary aged red wines I've ever tasted. A baffling experience. Priced according to its quality at 125€.

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  4/17/2016 - Epicurus_be wrote: 92 Points

  Color: Incredibly at this age but true: a purple color, going to pomegranate at the rim.
  
  Notes of tobacco, cocoa, graphite and undergrowth. Still some hint of dried fruits.
  
  Powerful start, full bodied mid-palate, long finish. Wow.

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  12/18/2013 - mdefreitas wrote: 93 Points

  Colares @ Aldea (NYC): Are you kidding me? The color here is dark red with a slight rust edge. Doesn't Romisco ever lose it's color? A bit more development here, with some mushroom, mint, forest floor and quinine notes, but the red fruit is still there. An odd rubber note detracted a bit, but this was very enjoyable, especially given its age.

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