Spiced in the aroma, with a dominating alcohol, hiding the weak fruit scents.
Taste comes off as sweet with good tannins, already a good composition. Ends off with a good dried fruits in the after taste, but still too thin in the taste.
Intermediate rating 85 / 100
Taste notes 4 hours after decanting
Color has gotten darked, resampling blood.
Light fruit notes to the aroma.
Good full bodied in the taste, tannins are still in balance with the fruit. But overall it is still too light in taste and after taste.
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.
Taste notes right after decanting
Clear thin red in the color, brown notes, but not going into the violet spectrum. Thin curtains on the walls of the glass.
Ripe fruit in the aroma with a dominating alcohol. Some spicy notes and darkness to it.
Good balance between tannin and fruit, warm and bossy from the alcohol. Leaves a good after taste of dried fruits. Hopefully it will become more full bodied the more air it gets.
Intermediate rating 87 / 100
Taste notes 3 hours after decanting
The color is a bit darker, it has become a more deep red.
Aroma has picked up a bit on the spices, but is still dominated by alcohol.
A bit more notes of the grapes in the taste, tannins relaxing a bit more but still a tad to the thin side.
Intermediate rating 88 / 100
Taste notes 7 hours after decanting
No significant change in color or aroma, since last taste note.
More dried fruits in the taste and a longer after taste. Alcohol has diminished a bit.
