Tag Archives: quinta do noval

Quinta Do Noval Silval Vintage Port 1998

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.

Overall rating 89 / 100

Quinta do Noval Silval Vintage Port 1995

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