1963 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port

[Jay Powers]

Plastic capsule that was as always B*%#! to remove (what's the trick to removing these darn capsules?). Underneath, a cork that was protruding ~1/4 inch and was actually glistening wet. The cork was soggy and 3/4 removed as a single piece, the rest as crumbs. The cork bits were filtered through a steel filter off of a huge amount of black grunge sediment which was cleanly left behind in the bottle.

First impressions (decanted ~90 minutes): Darkened a little after decanting, from a light rose to a translucent ruby. On the nose, huge complex aroma, violets, some fruit, alcohol, colheita. A little heat on the pallet (not nearly as much as on the nose), mellow, sweet, very mellow tannins, medium finish at the back of the mouth but not so much in the front or on the tongue.

Steady improvement over the next 2 hours (3.5 hours decanting time), gaining more fruit with the heat blowing off. Very smooth. Nice.

I'm not so sure this will last the night, so I'll venture a score now. Will this be in the top 50% of ports I will have this year? Probably yes. Ability to age more, not really...this is past it's apex (at least this bottle). I'm interested to see in the future if this was a prematurely aged bottle (wet protruding cork) or is representitive. I have a couple more bottles to check in the future. Initial score (Tom scale) 7-0.

Would I drink this again even if I had to go buy some: Yes.

Jay

[Derek T.]

Plastic capsule that was as always B*%#! to remove (what's the trick to removing these darn capsules?).

Jay, was this a hard wax capsule? If so, the trick is to remove it 24 hours before you want to decant the wine by hitting it with something hard and then picking up the shards from you kitchen floor - you can then leave the bottle standing for 24 hours undisturbed and remove the cork without shaking up the crust 8)

Derek

Disclaimer: Alex Bridgeman taught me this from another thread

[Jay Powers]

Derek

I really think it's plastic, imprinted with name and year. I'm looking at it right now and it is surely not wax, and your would need a sledge to shatter it. I had to cut starting from the bottom and then pry it off. I have some 66 Grahams that looks to be exactly the same thing. It's a very bulky, bulbous thingy and hard as nails. That being said, I'm not sure how much plastic was around in 65 that was being used on wine bottles Maybe released late from Noval?

Removing it earlier would have been ideal as you suggest but the decision to drink it was made on the fly.

I did manage to save a little from last night and am drinking it now (decanted ~24 hr). A little rougher than my previous note and in decline. Although I would agree that many Ports will benifit from extended decanting, this bottle does not seem to be one of them. At 24 hr I'll reduce the score a little to 6-0.

Jay

[Andy Velebil]

Jay,

Take the bottle outside to the garage, clamp it in a vise, the wack the top off with a hammer, filter through cheesecloth, and you're set

(disclaimer, for all those dumb people who would think of trying that....DON'T )


Of course there is always Port Tongs

[Alex K.]

KillerB's guide to wax capsules, circa March 2004:

Step 1 - Use a knife to cut into wax

Step 2 - cut finger

Step 3 - Get chisel from toolbox and chisel gently at wax like Michaelangelo carving David

Step 4 - Gash arm with chisel

Step 5 - Return from Casualty and use blow torch to melt wax off

Step 6 - Return from burns unit and get out power drill, drilling straight through wax seal.

Step 7 - return from anti-terrorism investigation into 'knee-capping' at Police Station and hack the top off with a hammer.

Step 8 - Drink straight from bottle - try to ignore the shards of glass.

[Alex K.]

Oh and I found this at £98 today - worth a punt?

[Andy Velebil]

Oh and I found this at £98 today - worth a punt?

I think that hammer bounced back into your head what did you find today?

[Al B.]

Alex,

The QdN '63 is a decent wine, delicate and fading but one which I really enjoyed last time I drank it.

But I wouldn't pay £98 a bottle for it. Last one I had (March 2006) was around £45. £45-£65 is what you should expect to pay at a keen retail price.

Alex

[Alex K.]

Thought as much, that's why I left it. Thanks.

[Andy Velebil]

Ohh i get it...the hammer hit me in the head before replying :wall:

Thats what happens when I reply before having a glass of Port :twisted:

[SEAN C.]

I have not had enough of this paticular Port but I reallly do think it's a great buy and an excellent drinking wine aside from the generally not so positive ratings. I have never had one yet though with a plastic capsule...I have however had a few Dow's (also 1963's) with the plastic and they are a real pain in the A$$!

[Andy Velebil]

I have 2 bottles with this hard plastic cap on them..after hearing how hard they are, seems like the Port tongs will come in handy for those. Thanks for the heads up before I slice and dice my fingers trying to get it off.