quinta do noval

Two sweet and one strong from Europe

~ Richard ~ Leave a comment

2015 DV by Ch Doisy Vedrines
Sauternes (second label) and not a wine I have tried before.

Pale gold colour with green tints- cumquat, vanilla, pure, fresh; light peach and apple on the palate, but there is not much persistence. Authentic but not  thrilling (served blind, from half- bottle)

Drink now, 88 points

2013 Ch Raymond Lafon 13%
Sauternes (80% semillon, 20% sav blanc)

Sauternes. Deeper gold colour, wax and honey; supple with much more texture – orange citrus and tropical notes. Apricots and light nuts – this is a serious wine, with vibrancy and conpelcoity (served blind, from half- bottle)

Drink to 2032, 92 points

2005 quinta do noval silval vintage port 19.5%
Portugal

Single Quinta wines from – generally – undeclared years can combine huge pleasure with VFM. Anyway, this shows delicious juicy blueberry and red cherry, there’s some “putty” in the spirit, a touch of almond meal. There’s substance and texture, but tannins are fully resolved and “diffuse”. Clear Portuguese style, but lacking the presence and intensity of a generally declared year. No complaints, buts it’s a drink soon proposition.

Drink to 2030, and 90 points

Portuguese, available and terrific

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2017 Quinta do Noval (unfiltered) LBVP 19.5%
The LBVP is halfway cross between a VP, and a tawny, this one aged five years in Portuguese oak and chestnut casks. Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão and Sousão, made from a decent year, with excellent fruit selection, and care. The style can easily improve with some bottle age – and represent great value! This wine was purchased at retail recently for $65.

A vibrant dense crimson colour, lashings of cherry liqueur and blueberries. Juicy, fleshy, bursting with vitality, and a touch of liquorice. Proper tannins, integrated spirit. Mixed fruit peel, dark spices, old leather, very, very comforting.

93 points and drink with real pleasure to 2033.

Odds and ends impressions- local, and not

~ Richard ~ Leave a comment

at matteos

2011 Ch Climens
Barsac, 100% Semillon (biodynamic) 20-22 months in oak, 30-40% new oak

Crème brulee, stonefruit, vanilla, ripe but not overripe apricots, citrus. 140g/l rs, but light on its feet, energetic, beautifully balanced. If time permitted, more nuance would come through. A Long cellaring time beckons but no problem tackling now!

Drink to 2035, 95 points

2010 Crawford River “nektar”
90% sav Blanc, 10% Semillon. 116 g/l rs. From Henty (western Victoria), and proof that Crawford River can produce more than their mighty Rieslings.

Very youthful, with a striking overlay of an attractive green nettle character and citrus, with . Pure, bright, and frighteningly youthful, botrytis and citrus, lingering and packed with acidity. The half-bottle emptied rapidly!

Drink to 2030, 92 points.

1997 Stanton and Killleen Vintage Port
Rutherglen, and regarded by the late winemaker Chris Killeen as his best wine. 60% Shiraz, 25% touriga, 5% each of Durif, tinta cao and tinta barocca. 3 trophies and 13 gold medals (when these were hard to get).

When I tasted this wine prior to its release; I instantly signed up for six bottles, and still have a few! I last wrote about it for this site in November 2018.

Dense deep red colour, cocoa, blackcurrant, chocolate mocha, almond, liquorice and blueberry. Masterful. Australia, you bloody beauty!

Drink to 2035, 95 points

2012 Quinta do Noval unfiltered Late-bottled vintage port 19.5%
QDN now declare a vintage every year, with the “less-than VP” wines cascaded potentially into the single quinta Silval, the LBVPs, and onwards.

LBVPs are a curious partway house between VPs, and the deliberately oxidative tawnies. From a single year, they can fall into “ready” vs “worth ageing”, but I have not found “unfiltered” to be a reliable cellaring guide; the key is producer.

Regardless, this excellent-value wine is a bawling infant, crimson in colour, ultra-fresh with floral red cherry, mixed spices and almond spirit; delicious, dry but ultimately straightforward. Tannin too, but not the substantial underlying depth of a true VP.  There’s no need to rush to consume, but its best will be within this decade.

Drink to 2027, 91 points

2003 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port 19.5%

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The widely declared 2016 Portuguese Vintage ports have seen numerous positive reviews, many mentioning their fruit richness and surprising early approachability (albeit with maturation to come over the next few decades).  I took the opportunity to visit a heatwave 2003 wine,  another generally declared vintage year.

Quinta do Noval is well-known for its Nacional vintage port – which I have never tasted- and their earlier-drinking Silval, but the wine reviewed is their standard model. These wines are imported into Australia by Bibendum, and are widely available. Noval  follow the beat of their own drum, with recent vintage ports released from 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016; whereas most other houses only declared 2011, 2015 and 2016.

2003 qdn

The cork has done its duty, the colour of the wine is a very solid dense red, with some bricking on the rim. The bouquet is ultra-complex; mulberry, liqueur cherry, plumcake spices, green olive, almond, blueberry and cocoa. The palate is an elegant full-bodied style; flavours coat the mouth, there is the tension between blue, red and black fruits. Blackcurrant is in the mix now with red liquorice. The fortifying spirit has melded, the super-silky tannins are present within the swathe of rich ripe fruit.

At this age, the wine is generous, juicy, approachable and delicious, but has the stuffing to mature with grace for another 20 years.

An easy 94 points, and drink up to 2035.

1994 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port 20.5%

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Very densely coloured, with tell-tale camphor and light liquorice, but with the Portuguese tannin bite; almonds and bergamot (earl grey). Mouthfilling, fine but slightly furry, spices in a complete package. Long palate finishing slightly warm. Decanting would have settled this wine, but all-around delicious

94 qdv

Drink to 2030; score 92