Quinta do Noval - Vintage Port 2017 (750ml)
Price: $99.00
| Producer | Quinta do Noval |
| Country | Portugal |
| Region | Porto |
| Varietal | Port Blend |
| Vintage | 2017 |
| Sku | 1932049 |
| Size | 750ml |
Wine Spectator: 98 Points
This is well-packed offering the vivid plum boysenberry cassis and açaí berry fruit profile of the vintage along with a dark edge of tar baker?s chocolate and salted licorice that courses underneath. The long finish lets the fruit play out keeping singed alder and chai spice hints in the background. Smolderingly seductive. Best from 2035 through 2060. From Portugal.?J.M.
Wine Advocate: 97 Points
The 2017 Vintage Port is a field blend mostly Touriga Nacional Touriga Franca Tinto Cão and Sousão aged for 18 months in old wood vats. It comes in with 99 grams of residual sugar. This was bottled in May 2019 about a month before tasting but I made sure at least some of it had a lot of air. Aromatic wonderfully fragrant and laced with eucalyptus this then shows typical Noval focus and power. A couple of hours in a glass simply increased the power. More intense than the very fine 2016 it grips the palate and shows rather significant astringency. As wonderfully aromatic as this is there the 2016 might have the edge. Too closed and muscular once past the aromatics this rather dry Port needs some time. It is harder to read than the 2016 was but this should overtake it in time. Have some patience with this one. Remember that with tawnies they are best drunk a little cool. Most producers recommend 58 degrees to 62 degrees Fahrenheit. Also the end-date drinking windows are just placeholders. I don't pay much attention to them and neither should you. Old Tawnies don't die easily barring cork failures and as they sit longer and longer in barrel they become more and more resistant. End-date drinking windows are just advisories that mean "a very long time." They aren't really meant to be aged though. They are ready on release.
James Suckling: 97 Points
Big grip in this wine with dark blackberries blueberries and floral notes. Fine tannins. Ripe but sweet and pretty. Shows a lovely finish. Try after 2027.
vVinous: 94 Points
The 2016 Quinta do Noval Vintage Port is a blend of Touriga Naçional Touriga Franc Tinta Cão and Sousão all foot-trodden and aged in wooden casks for 18 months. It has a voluminous warm and inviting bouquet that positively “bulges” with damson bilberry crushed violets and blackcurrants all beautifully defined and focused. The palate is medium-bodied with a feisty spicy opening: black fruit laced with cracked black pepper clove cardamom and a pinch of sea salt. Whilst the aromatics have all the “fun” the palate is more “serious” as if compensating for the nose with a sense of reserve and restraint. Together they make for a fascinating quite mercurial Quinta do Noval that should age gloriously over the next 30 years.
Wine Enthusiast: 94 Points
This is a solid wine with dark tannins and a definitely dry character that will allow it to age well. Its power and its density are impressive, with rich black currant flavors backing up the tannins. Drink from 2030.
