For The Love Of Port

The last of my bottles from a long-ago FTLOP buying opportunity. Probably 2009? Who says tawnies don't age well in bottle?

Quinta do Noval 40-year Old Tawny Port
Bottled 2007

Color: Deep, rich tawny with red-orange highlights and a green tint near the rim.

Nose: Madeira? Tart apricot, some lime, faint tart lemon, rich vanilla, cedar, and sandalwood.

Palate: Crisp, bright acidity, but not harsh. It's more citrusy than tartaric acidy. Well-balanced sugars allow it to be very refreshing for a 40-yr old. Very nutty (pecan and walnut) along with loads of dried fruits (apricots and dates). There's an impression of brown sugar, but it's faint. Brown sugar isn't really this Port's style. (That's more Romaneira or Brunheda.) It's lip-smacking good.

Finish: Very long and very pleasant. Nice warmth. Rich echo of candied fruit. 5+ minutes.

Score: 96 points. A fantastic bottle that only started to fade very slightly after being open 10 days. (It only lasted 10 days due to other bottles being open at the same time.) You'd never know this has been bottled for 10 years - it tastes as crisp and fresh as one bottled in 2017.

Glenn E. wrote:Probably 2009? Who says tawnies don't age well in bottle?

I think Moses, and most people not named Dirk or Glenn. I'm kind of on the fence.

Eric Menchen wrote:

Glenn E. wrote:Probably 2009? Who says tawnies don't age well in bottle?

I think Moses, and most people not named Dirk or Glenn. I'm kind of on the fence.

And a big bunch of Danes that are experimenting with standard consumption tawnies that were bottled many years ago.

Nonetheless thanks for a great note. This really is a standout tawny and underlines that Quinta do Noval really is master of the majority of port categories.

Eric Menchen wrote:

Glenn E. wrote:Probably 2009? Who says tawnies don't age well in bottle?

I think Moses, and most people not named Dirk or Glenn. I'm kind of on the fence.

Yeah, yeah. What I really meant by that is that this bottle doesn't seem to have softened at all. Some softening of the acidity - what Moses sometimes calls fading - is what I typically associate with bottle age on a tawny. I need a little of that with some producers such as Kopke whose TWAIOA are so bright and acidic that I can barely drink them. But if anything, this particular bottle seems more acidic than what I'm used to from Noval. And that's with 10 years of bottle age!

Thomas V wrote:And a big bunch of Danes that are experimenting with standard consumption tawnies that were bottled many years ago.

I wouldn't age standard consumption tawnies. For me, at least, they typically don't have the acidity necessary to age well. Older TWAIOA and 30+ year old Colheitas have that acidity, though, and can handle bottle years gracefully. And in the case of tawnies produced by people named Dirk, they can even change and improve with time in bottle in much the same way that LBV and VP improve.