10 Year Old Tawny Port by Quinta do Noval

[Brian C.]

I had a glass of this tonight at dinner, paired with an affogato. An affogato in this case was a scoop of hazelnut gelato with a shot of espresso poured over it. The pairing could not have been better.

I found that as I finished the glass, there was increasing heat. This was at a restaurant, so that could have been part of the problem. I did have a sip or two before the affogato showed up, and didn't notice any heat at that point. I was very surprised to see the heat show up at the end like that. I think it must have missed being with the affogato, and wanted to let me know that.

[Roy Hersh]

Brian,

So what lesson do you take away from your impression?

[Brian C.]

Roy,

I remember what you said about ordering ports in restaurants. I have no idea how long this one sat on the shelf. At $8 for the our, I was willing to take a chance, and see how it worked with the dessert. I think the pairing was so good that it masked whatever flaws the port might have had. We finished the dessert before the port. As I had the last few sips, the heat really took over. It was such a stark contrast, I must say. A good pairing is important to me, and I feel like I really gained something by trying this pairing. Mind you, it sucks to screw up a pairing, too. Either way, I learn something, though. Did I learn enough about the true intrinsic qualities of this particular port? Probably not, if it was sitting on a shelf long enough to be called something else besides a 10 Year and/or the dessert carried the experience. But I had fun. Is it possible that I could have had the same dessert experience with a cheap reserve tawny? I hope I'm not missing the point of your question.

[Roy Hersh]

There was no point of my question beyond learning more about what you thought. No agenda.

One thing that is "possible" is that the cream in the Afogato covered up the sensation of the protruding heat that might have been there all along. I don't know for sure.

Here was my last TN on this wine (Sept. 2009), taken from the TNDB:

Roy's Tasting Notes
NV Quinta do Noval 10 Year Old Tawny Port [$ Find on Wine-Searcher.com $]
I had not tasted this Noval 10 year old in many years and it was fun to spend a few days with this bottle. The spicy nose is immediately pleasing and the almond paste and cinnamon characteristics add to the complexity of the bouquet. Surprisingly light-bodied and elegant stylistically, there is an initial spirituous heat which is distracting, but after a couple of days this seems to integrate nicely. A modest nutty profile along with dried dates and a hint of citrus on the back end, provide a well rounded Tawny. Tasty and enjoyable although a bit simple, the Noval is a solid and straight forward 10 year old Tawny that delivers good length and depth. 89 Points

[Brian C.]

I never thought about possibility of the cream concealing the heat. Interesting insight. I see that you mentioned the distracting heat as well. Maybe I'll have to test the theory of cream masking heat when the opportunity presents itself again...