1997 Quinta do Noval LBV Port -- Unfiltered

[Andy Velebil]

Drank at the Port at Andy's House last night with Alex R., Jason, Scott, Andy S, and I. Decanted about 2 hours, which was woofully too short. This was so much better than the 1996 Bomfim that preceded this one. It was great to catch this LBV right at the moment where it was starting to get secondary nuances of anise and dried rose pedals. The palate had nice gripping tannins, dark fruit that was just faintly showing some softening up as it comes out of its cocoon. A nice medium long finish rounded out a very good LBV. Leave these alone for at least another 5 years, and in reallity 10 years would be best. As its best years are still ahead of it. Alex, a great last minute choice to bring
91 points
06/26/08

[Roy Hersh]

Ouch. Consumed way too early in the game. I am a major fan of Noval '94 LBV and usually decant these for a long time (unless no choice). I still have 10 left, but all in UK cellar. I've gone through literally cases of it. I like it a bit more than the '97 which is also really wonderful, but the '94 is as good as some '94 VPs when decanted properly. Still my all time fave LBV until something knocks it off its perch.

Roy

[Andy Velebil]

Yes, it was quite young and still has plenty of aging potential ahead of it. To bad we drank it all in short order, I'll have to try and find some to try over a couple of days.