What is this bottle?

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Tue May 23, 2006 3:05 am

A lovely bottle - level well into neck - immaculate capsule and seal - complete with a leather dog tag still in situ - light coating of dust on the label side and moth-eaten but mostly legible label.

Dog tag reads;

NOVAL ENG.1941

and then the hand stamped number

310

Label reads:

Quinta do
Noval
Vinho do Porto
Garrafeira Velha
Bottled in 1941 by
Antonio Jose Da Silva
The remaining text is mostly missing, but the words VILA NOVA is discernible, as is the text Reserva Especial... A. COLUNA..?

The bottle has a driven cork and appears to have been cellared like a VP, but the words Garrafeira and 'bottled in 1941' suggests that the content is a half way house between VP and Tawny.

Can anyone fill me in with more detail?

Tom

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Tue May 23, 2006 9:27 am

Lest the answer to my query seems too obvious, this bottle was sold to me by Sotheby's as 1941 VP, and I wanted to be sure their was no local idiosyncracy of labelling before taking issue.

I have now phoned them, and their response has been admirable - they had kept a photo of the bottle, and have admitted screwing up.

I have now offered a fraction of the hammer price to retain the bottle (it is quite a rarity, and in very good condition) - and will wait to hear!

Tom

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Tue May 23, 2006 11:18 am

Given AJdS' penchant for Colheita, that is what I am assuming the bottle is. I've opened two of my three, '37 Noval Colheitas and had one great one and one off bottle.

I am not aware of any true Garrafeira being bottled by Noval. Garrafeira is the Portuguese translation for: bottle

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Tue May 23, 2006 11:53 am

Roy,

Do your '37's have the word Colheita on the label?

Tom

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Wed May 24, 2006 12:17 am

Tom,

As you may or may not know, the 1937 is the oldest Colheita in stock at Noval and has been for at least a decade. The bottles I purchased were bottled in 1998. The front says:

Quinta do Noval
Colheita 1937
Old Tawny Porto

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:26 am

It's a pity that Noval lost their archives in the '81 fire, else it might have been possible to get some enlightenment from VNG.

Neither the words Tawny nor Colheita feature on the label, and there is only the bottling date. The words Garrafeira Velha are central to the label, and in a larger font. This makes me feel that it is unlikely to be a Colheita.

The absence any history (that I know of) of Noval producing Garrafeiras makes me wonder if this was perhaps something of a one-off exercise that AJS didn't bother to repeat.

Tom

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Thu May 25, 2006 1:17 am

Tom,

I am friends with one of AJS's ancestors and will find out whatever I can. If anyone would know, it would be this gentleman. I will report back whatever I can find out for you.

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Thu May 25, 2006 1:25 am

Thanks!

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Thu May 25, 2006 5:24 am

Pure speculation, but only because Tom's quiz is easier than Roy's, my guess as to the wine that Tom bought is:

Wine of old - but indeterminate age - bottled in 1941 from some dusty old barrels discovered in the corner of the cellar one day and labelled as a "special reserve" since it didn't fall into any of the official categories of the time.

If I'm right, do I get to buy the bottle for a 10% discount?

Alex

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Thu May 25, 2006 8:20 am

The possibility that this bottling was the product of a little housekeeping and tidying up has not escaped me, but if lodges do find a pipe or two where some careless paperwork has left a question over the identity, then that wine can be cut into the standard tawny blends without issue.

The lack of a vintage date makes me suspect that this is more likely to be the wrap-up of some experimentation into Garrafeiras, with more than one vintage bottled up using the same label. The '310' on the dog tag could probably have been used to identify the vintage of the original wine - had the archives survived...

If I'm right, do I get to buy the bottle for a 10% discount?

Certainly - shall we say £500?? - that's £450 after discount :twisted:

Tom

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Thu May 25, 2006 11:04 am

As I said earlier in the thread, I don't think Noval was involved at all with Garrafeiras!

Now we can all stop guessing as here is the closest we will ever get to the real truth about this particular bottle. Cristiano van Zeller who consults for many properties in the Douro, as well as being involved in some joint ventures (we've discussed them on the Forum) and owning Quinta do Vale Donna Maria (try their 2000 or 2003 VP!!!!) was the former owner of Quinta do Noval. His ancestors were owned it for ages and he knows the history of Noval as well as anyone alive.

I sent him an email last night and here is his response:

Bom dia Roy,
Great to hear from you. I have looked into the website and here is what I can say about this AJS Port:

Noval produced Colheitas and the oldest in stock was, when I started, the 1937, as you very well have put it. My great-grandfather, Luís Vasconcelos Porto, used to produce and bottle some very old Tawnies under very different names. The mentioned bottle was certainly one of them. They were not Colheitas in their own right, as this kind of category was only formalized in the late 1960's, but could easily be from one single harvest. In that particular case it was not 1941 (obviously) but could easily be from the 19th century, as these kind of wines tended to be very old indeed and well over 40 years of age (as you know it was my great-grandfather that introduced, back in the 20's, the concept of aged tawnies of 10, 20, 30 and over 40 year old tawny). Otherwise it would have gone out as one of the aged tawnies.

I do not have any knowledge that we have ever produced any Garrafeira Ports (this was a particular style introduced and practically only used by Niepoort). But we produced 41 Vintage Port and a 41 Colheita (horrible and dead Vintage Port by the time I last tasted it in the 80's; the best Colheita in Noval hands and one of the best that I ever tasted from all Port companies). Sorry I can not be more specific.

Hope to see you in June then.

Warm regards,
Cristiano

I don't know that we'll ever really know what Tom's wine really is, but with Cristiano's help, we do know what it is not. Thanks to Cristiano who is always a wealth of information and a good friend!

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Fri May 26, 2006 1:33 pm

Fascinating reply!

I have now agreed the purchase of the bottle for the much reduced sum of £70. It's a bottle I'd like to share in expert company.

Next time you're over Roy, see if you can fix a dinner party with Broadbent or Mayson (and of course the rest of us FTLOP-ers here)

Provided it isn't the first week of November, I'll bring the bottle as my contribution.

Tom