Tasting: 1978 Nacional and 1978 Quady Lot 2

[Bill Spohn]

A couple of Port and Port-like wines from a recent dinner:


1978 Quady Lot #2 – these old Zinfandel Ports are wonderful wines and it was a coincidence that I had bought both this and the Lot #1 years ago when I was down racing in California. My bottles were drunk up long ago but it was nice to taste this again. It would probably have been well over the hill by now from a normal cellar. It retains good colour, nice fruit in the nose, not too hot, but the heat came in on the finish with some good fruit in between. Pleasant wine with cheese.

1978 Quinta do Noval Nacional – an even rarer wine made from grapes grown in a prephylloxera vineyard in very small amounts. Paler in colour, browner in colour, and a sweeter nose, very sweet in the mouth – this would vie with any Grahams for sugar, and with a very long finish. Good wine, although I have to wonder why they declared it. A rare wine you don’t get to taste every day!!

[Andy Velebil]

. Good wine, although I have to wonder why they declared it. A rare wine you don’t get to taste every day!!

Definitely a pair of Ports you don't see every day. As for the Nacional, it was never commercially sold by Noval until the 1985 vintage. Prior to that it was a "thank-you-give-away" if you bought over a certain amount of the regular Noval. That may account for the odd year. Then again, Nacional doesn't always play by the rules of a normal declared vintage either, like 1996 to mention one.

[Roy Hersh]

Or 1984 to name another, because we just had that one.