Category Archives: Wine

Quinta do Noval Silval Vintage Port 1995

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The name Quinta do Noval first appeared in land registers in the year 1715.  António José da Silva, a Port shipper from Gaia, father-in-law of Luiz Valsconcelos Porto, acquired Quinta do Noval in 1894 after its devastation by phylloxera. He restored the property by replanting its vineyards.

A new bottling line and warehouse was completed in 1997 in Alijo, near to Pinhão. This project made Quinta do Noval the first of the traditional Port shippers to centralise all its activities in the Douro Valley rather than in Vila Nova de Gaia near Porto.

Estimated cost of this Quinta do Noval Silval Vintage Port 1995 bottle of 750 ml is 38 Euro.

Taste notes right after decanting

Red to light red in the colour

Feels thin and easy to sling in the glass, heavy curtains on the sides.

Spiced fruit, darkness, tannin and a dominating alcohol in the aroma.

Good fruit with a powerful bite, sweet taste with some alcohol.

Intermediate rating 85 /100

2.5 hours after decanting

Darker in the colour and slightly heavier.

Aroma and taste remains the same as earlier.

6 hours after decanting

Darker in the colour

Dark and spicy with a sharp nose.

Medium bodied, yet dry and alive from tannin. Sweet fruit in the end.

Will properly improve with longer decanting than 6 hours, still a lot of tannin that could rest for a couple more years in the cellar. The bottle had a bigger sediment than what I find on average in a vintage port.

Overall rating 88 / 100

Niepoort Vintage Port 1991

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GS6A1136

Estimated cost of this Niepoort Vintage Port 1991 bottle of 750 ml is 60 Euro.

Niepoort is an independent family business since 1842 and now through five generations. The fifth generation is Eduard Dirk Niepoort and Verena Niepoort. Dirk is ahead of the business, since the formal retirement of Eduard Rudolph Niepoort in 2005.

Taste notes right after decanting

Perfect cork, not a single spot of mold or leaking. Lots of large chunks of sediment in the bottle, almost like whole grapes falling out.

Rubin red with brown tones to the colour.

Heavy curtains from a sling in the glass.

Spiced  and dark aroma, warm alcohol and a sense of old dried fruits in the aroma.

Delicate fruit, light on the acid, pleasant tannin, medium dried fruit in the after taste, mostly like raisins. Shows a good balance right after opening.

Intermediate rating 90 /100

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4 hours after decanting

Darker in the colour and slightly heavier.

Aroma dulled down to become more anonymous, alcohol did however also take a step down in the aroma.

Taste developed with a even stronger sense of dark spices.

Intermediate rating 89 /100

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6.5 hours after decanting

 

Improved balance between acid and fruit, powerful dried fruits in play with a lovely tannin.

Overall rating 90 / 100

Quinta do Infantado Vintage Port 2004

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GS6A6323

Estimated cost of this Quinta do Infantado Vintage Port 2004 bottle of 750 ml is 38 Euro.

This vintage port was released in 368 magnum, 14150 bottles and 3470 half-bottles. This half-bottle was numbered 1580.

Quinta do Infantado has been a estate-bottled port producer since 1979. Until that time, all exported Ports had to be shipped in bulk to Vila Nova de Gaia.

Taste notes right after decanting

Hazy and dark reddish in the colour.

Suitable, fine and a little messy in the aroma.

Full bodied, fresh taste with a short but suitable after taste. Seems mature, but smaller bottles do also mature faster.

Intermediate rating 85 /100

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2 hours after decanting

As black as red can get, took some good darkening from the air.

Aroma has loosened up and there is more fresh fruit in it, but still too much alcohol.

After taste got longer.

4 hours after decanting

Darker in the colour

After taste got more dried fruits in it.

The last glass was tried 48 hours after opening and it was dead. Much less taste and was getting harsh.

Overall rating 87 / 100

Graham Vintage Port 1980

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GS6A9592

Estimated cost of this Graham’s Vintage Port 1995 bottle of 750 ml is 47 Euro. Learn more about the house of Graham’s here Visiting Graham’s in Porto.

Taste notes right after decanting

Minimum sediment with a cork completely soaked and destroyed.

Deep dark red like blood.

Dark and tar like aroma with alcohol dominating a light, but sweet, dried fruits scent.

Soft body with everything you can imagine from a harbor, tar, robes, planks, barrels, its it just dark and mysterious. Good tannin balance already. Long, sweet and powerful dried fruits in the after taste, lasts a good while.

Intermediate rating 89 /100

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2 hours after decanting

No changes in colour, remains dark and bloody.

Aroma as was it smelled directly from the oak casket, dark and lustrous.

 

Balanced taste with a good complex play between the dried fruits and mild tannin.

Wine was poured back in the bottle to slow the process of decanting.

 

Overall rating 92 / 100

Quarles Harris Vintage Port 1994

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GS6A0110

Quarles Harris was founded in 1680 by Thomas Dawson and this early date makes it one of the oldest port houses. It was named Dawson & Harris when Quarles Harries married Dorothea Dawson in 1752. It was once again renamed in 1791 to Harris Stafford & Sons and already in 1792 to Quarles Harris & Co. The company was bought by Andrew James Symington in 1917 and remain to this day as a part of the Symington family’s large portfolio of port houses.

Estimated cost of this Quarles Harris Vintage Port 1994 bottle of 750 ml is 52 Euro.

Taste notes right after decanting

Deep dark amber and orange play in the colour

Good aroma with a spiced and mature fruit. Suitable in strength with a hint of alcohol.

Light bodied with a mild taste to it, fine after taste with a pleasant dried fruits in the end, a wine that seems mature.

Intermediate rating 89 /100

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2.5 hours after decanting

Dark red and really took some change from the air.

Suitable aroma that can be scented from a great distance.

Mild tannin, sweet fruit and a warmth in the end.

Wine was poured back in the bottle to slow the process of decanting.

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7.5 hours after decanting

The dark red colour seems to have gotten a even deeper dimension.

Aroma lost some of its fruitfulnes but is now hot and spiced.

Soft tannin, sweet darkness that goes straight over in a full forced dried fruits that lasts forever with a wonderful after taste.

Final rating 90 / 100

GS6A0120

24 hours after decanting

Smooth and very easy to drink, it is just like drinking a liquid raisins.

Overall rating 90 / 100

Real Companhia Velha Royal Oporto Vintage Port 1985

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GS6A9811

Real Companhia Velha was founded on the 10th of September 1756 by Royal Charter of King D. José I, under the auspices of his Prime Minister, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the Count of Oeiras and Marquis of Pombal. By 1781 the company was known as Royal Oporto in England. In 1960, with the support of the banker Pinto de Magalhães, Manuel da Silva Reis acquires the majority of the company and assumes its leadership.

Estimated cost of this Real Companhia Velha Royal Oporto Vintage Port 1985 bottle of 750 ml is 35 Euro.

1.5 hours after decanting

Medium clarity with a red to red-brown tint in the colour

Faint aroma with a sense of the ordinary, alcohol and some spices to it.

Light to medium body, refreshing tannin with a suitable length of after taste. It is however going from mature to old. It is out of balance between fruit and tannin, aged beyond what is good for it.

Intermediate rating 80 /100

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6 hours after decanting

Darker in the colour.

Much less alcohol in the aroma.

Better balance between tannin and the thin fruit and faint dried fruits, alcohol is not dominant but more on the tame side. Taste of old barrels and the scent of a old living room comes in, not spiced but slightly old. Better balanced, but has to be consumed now.

Final rating 86 / 100

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12 hours after decanting

Seems more like a 10 year old Tawny by now, tannin is almost gone.

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30 hours after decanting

Turned completely brown in colour, sweet as raisins, smooth as silk with even more heavy dried fruits to the taste. All alcohol is gone and after taste lasts longer. It has now transformed itself into a old tawny.

Overall rating 86 / 100

Quinta Das Carvalhas LBV – Late Bottled Vintage 2010

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GS6A9845-2

Real Companhia Velha was founded on the 10th of September 1756 by Royal Charter of King D. José I and have produced port ever since.

Quinta das Carvalhas is a property in the Douro Valley. Written references regarding this vineyard can be traced back to 1759.

Estimated cost of this Late Bottled Vintage from 2010 bottle of 750 ml is 25 Euro.

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Medium clarity of this black to dark red port.

Forceful and suitable aroma, spicy in a good way and pure in the nose.

Medium bodied, yet dry and alive from tannin. Sweet fruit in the end.

Light body, dry but still within what is suitable, good fruit that is harmonic with a fine after taste of raisins. A good ready to drink wine that does a overall fine impression on balance.

Overall rating 88 / 100

Blandy’s Madeira Bual 10 years

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GS6A9512

Blandy’s Madeira Wine was founded in 1811 by John Blandy that came to Madeira to be treated for his illness in the warm climate and to work in the banking sector. The company is still on family hands and is today run by the 6th generation.

I got this 19%, 500 ml bottle of Blandy’s Madeira Bual 10 years as a gift. Approximate value is around  31 Euro.

The bual grapes are used for the medium sweet wines.

Dark orange and amber in the colour, with play of yellow tones. Heavy curtains on the side of the glass after a slinging, slowly descending.

A aroma that is heavy on the dried fruits, sweet with a nice scent of burned caramel but also with some alcohol in it.

Good body with a faint hint of oak from the barrels, good warmth, some alcohol and sweet raisins in the after taste, a good mix of dried fruits.

Overall rating is 89 / 100

Sandeman – 20 Year Old Tawny Port

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GS6A7043

I bought this 20 year old tawny port at the Bilka supermarket in Odense, Denmark at the price of 25 Euro for a 750 ml bottle.

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Clear orange in the colour and with thin and watery curtains on the glass.

Heavy aroma of dried fruits, some alcohol but a fine and pure aroma.

Light bodied, refreshing and yet with dried fruits, suitable length on the after taste compromised of mature raisins, slightly spiced, some alcohol and a hint of oak.

Good tawny to the price.

Overall rating 87 / 100

Kopke Quinta Sáo Luiz Vintage Port 1979

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GS6A7140

Kopke was established in 1638 by Christiano Kopke and his son, Nicolau Kopke. The company was sold to the Bohane family, by the end of the 19th century, who tried to run it from London. The distance and the two World Wars disabled the control of the Company and they decided to sell it. Quinta de S. Luiz was acquired by Kopke in 1922. In 1953 the Barros family bought the House of Kopke. In June 2006 it was sold and became a part of the SOGEVINUS Group.

I bought this 750 ml bottle at 20% at a German ebay shop at the price of 59 Euro.

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1 hour after decanting

Orange and amber in the colour, large and round curtains on the wall of the glass.

Light aroma that is dominated by the alcohol.

Burning tannin, mature flatness, warm from the alcohol. Light taste of dried fruits.

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7 hours after decanting

As above, but colour changed more into amber and red brown.

Taste did not develop itself much over the hours in the decanter.

Overall rating 88 / 100