NV Quinta do Noval Black Ruby Reserve Port

[Eric Menchen]

Informal notes, from a pop-and-pour last night and more thorough tasting tonight. Left out with its T-stopper overnight at room temperature. (Perhaps I should put it in the fridge tonight.)

Very dark ruby with some purple tint; fades at the rim, but doesn't change hue. Too dark to see through, but at the rim I can see it isn't particularly cloudy.

First whiffs last night I detected a bit of age, which I found surprising. There is a hint of wood and some leather behind the jam and light spirit. Last night I smelled grape stem, tonight it is more herbal, like bay leaf.

Last night in the mouth I thought someone took a piece of leather, spread a thin layer of fig paste on that, and then rinsed it off with red raspberry puree and Concord grape juice. One of my guests thought it tasted of cherry. Tonight the Concord grape is reduced and the fruit more abstract.

Some alcohol in the medium-long length finish, which shows more tang as it stretches on.

I liked this quite a bit, and maybe the QPR is biasing my score, but I'll go with 93 points. Or maybe I just haven't had a great Port in a while to reset my calibration.

Yummy with a gourmet dessert of homemade chocolate chip cookies with pecans.

[Eric Menchen]

Still nice on the fifth night. Some warmth, lots of fruit preserves, and a long finish.

Unimportant side note: As I tossed it out, I noticed the empty bottle is quite heavy.

[Andy Velebil]

Unimportant side note: As I tossed it out, I noticed the empty bottle is quite heavy.

Yes it is, I noticed that to. I showed the Black bottle and the old LB bottle to some non-port friends awhile ago and asked which they liked better and would buy if they knew nothing about either. They all liked the Black bottle better and would have chose it over the LB. As one put it, the LB bottle looks like something you'd buy only at Christmas...I had to laugh about that one, but I could see his point once he mentioned it.