1996 Quinta do Portal LBV Port -- bottled 2001

[Todd Pettinger]

Quinta do Portal Late Bottled Vintage Port – 1996 [bottled in 2001]
Unfiltered, short, driven cork, about 1.25 inches. Decanted off a fair amount of clumpy sediment.

Rich, deep red, with some purple towards the center. Plums in the nose, but none apparent on the palate. Some spirit was present a few hours after decanting, but blew off the nose within 4-6 hours.

Hints of chocolate with cherry, grape and blackberry in the fore-palate. Middle has some decently strong tannin-pucker with a touch of heat on the medium-length finish which is nice, not too dominant. Spirit is integrated in the approach and through the middle, showing up only on the finish. A touch of acidity in the middle helps to hold this all together and balances the nice sweetness present in the Port.

A very good LBV by Portal, my first, but it will definitely prompt me to seek out more of this, and other offerings from Portal, when available. I would rate this traditional, unfiltered LBV at 93.

This tasting note is one of several related tasting notes. Click [here] to see the original note in context.