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NV Quinta do Noval LB Finest Reserve
brown with a tint of red

Sweet, birch wood with a hint of greenish mint on the nose.

Brown Sugar with a hint of sour prunes.

30 sec Finish of burnt caramel and black tea

84/100

Any ideas what the LB stands for in the name of this port?

I think it is "Late Bottled". It is a Reserve Ruby port rather than from a single year which is why the V is missing.

I have had it before and enjoyed it.

Derek

Interesting. Is it filtered? I assume it must be as it could otherwise be a crusted port.

Unless it was blended and then barrel matured for more that a couple of years. That would make it a late bottled crusted port and since there is no such category, it could only be called a ruby port.

I forgot to mention a very key point that my bottle was cooked (very bad storage but it was 5$ bargain bin) and took on a more madeira quality adding body and length and depth to an otherwise ok straight forward fruity ruby.

It's supposed to be a filtered ruby that "emulates" a VP.

Alex,

Here is a link to a good source of info on Noval LB.

Derek

Interesting link. This looks to be a port I should add on to my "To try" list.

After my somewhat excessive stint at the CP last week, I decided the following day to punish myself with something more humble.

Last year I picked up a mixed lot of port bottles from a house clearance sale, mostly non-vintage, but all showing dust deposits and label degradation that was consistant with good cellaring. The bottles that were datable were mostly twenty to thirty years old, but one 'unknown' bottle revealed itself to be a Taylor '55 when I took the capsule off.

Included was a bottle of Noval LB; undatable, but with a driven cork in a green stencilled bottle and an old style guarantee strip; so pretty ancient.

The colour in the wine had mostly dropped out, leaving a substantial deposit; although the back label advised the purchaser that decanting was not necessary - so presumably this had been filtered prior to bottling.

The wine was like a fine old tawny, still with plenty of fruit on the nose, and a fine palate that was completely free of fire. It bore more than a passing resemblance to the Rebello Valente '47 I had drunk the night before.

Now on my last glass, this is still an excellent quaff - who says ordinary ports don't keep or improve?

Tom

Tom, I had the same impression on my bottle of Novals LB. This was most probably bottled in the 60s. Excellent lenght and a very good body. Definitely filtered - only minor sediment.

It was a present to my dad, so no idea of what the price was.

Axel