For The Love Of Port

Opened on New Year's Eve, December 31st 2009, when it became clear that the 1970 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port wasn't going to last until midnight.

Quinta do Noval 40 Year Old Tawny Port

This is one of my favorite 40-yr olds, and this bottle did not disappoint. Beautifully tawny-burnt orange in the glass, with a nose of vanilla, oak, apricots, and cinnamon. The palate is firm an luscious, full bodied, with strong but not searing acidity. Honey, blood orange, apricot, and a whiff of caramel are the primary flavor profiles, but numerous secondary flavors dance across your tastebuds. The finish is superb and very long - easily 5+ minutes - and echos the flavors from the palate. Very late in the finish there is a hint of mint, possibly eucalyptus.

95 points.

Nearly 2 weeks later I'm just about to finish off this bottle, and it's still going strong. I haven't been tasting it every night (or it'd be long gone by now), but it did go through the normal (for me) decline and resurgence surrounding the 1 week mark. I almost feel like this particular bottle is even better now at 14 days than it was when first opened, but it's a really close call.

I'm glad I have a few more of these left!