1966 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port

Ronald Wortel · Post by **Ronald Wortel** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 7:10 am

Bottled by Berry Bros. and bought there about a year ago.

Directly after decanting: old brownish colour with only hints of red and orange. A bit hot and medicinal on the nose, witl lots of old notes like leather, tobacco and earth. The palate shows smoky flavours, some dried fruit (dates, rose hips). Soft, smooth and straightforward, but on the finish it gets unpleasantly hot. A pleasant glass, but surely one to drink sooner than later. 88 points.

Tried again after 2 hours and finally after 4,5 hours accompanied by some Portuguese (runny) cheeses. The heat did blow off to some extend with time, but not completely. The ports gained some light red fruit, but overall the evolution in the decanter was minimal. The cheeses worked wonders however to get rid of the heat on the finish. A good match. With food: 89 points.

Very nice to have tried this port, and certainly one that drinks well at the moment. But I must admit that I had hoped this would rate one or two points higher.

Richard Henderson · Post by **Richard Henderson** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 9:40 am

With that brownish color and those descriptors, earthy, smoky, tobacco etc, maybe it was corked or damaged in some other way?
Those are not my ususal descriptors for a port. Those are my descriptors for many Bourdeaux.

Steven Kooij · Post by **Steven Kooij** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 10:34 am

My thanks to Ronnie & Lady Roots for opening this VP! My TN is quite similar to Ronnie's...a nice Port, but the fact that it remained too hot of the 5 hours we drank it is a pity...the flavours underneath were nice, but somewhat one-dimensional.

Richard, this bottle was bought last year at BBR, and it had been in their cellar since bottling. In fact, the fill was SO good (well into the neck) that we did not dare to use The Tongs on this bottle. And to give it credit, this Port did not fall apart in the timeframe we drank it - it just wasn't that good as we had hoped. It was a nice, very drinkable VP at peak maturaty (sp?) for my taste. If this was a representive bottle: drink it now or cellar for more 5 years max.

Ronald Wortel · Post by **Ronald Wortel** » Sat Apr 15, 2006 3:56 pm

I've read other (recent) tasting notes on this port, giving the same description of colour and flavours. I think this really is a port to be drunk now.

nicos neocleous · Post by **nicos neocleous** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 3:38 am

RonnieRoots wrote:I've read other (recent) tasting notes on this port... I think this really is a port to be drunk now.

I have drunk this twice in the last 3 years and, for my taste, it's best days are behind it. Drink up.

Marco D. · Post by **Marco D.** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:46 pm

This is very odd. I had the same wine (BB&R bottling) about two years ago and it was dark, lively and fanatstic... if anything, it was too young. Go figure.

Steven Kooij · Post by **Steven Kooij** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 2:53 pm

No good wines, only good bottles.... :?