1931 Quinta do Noval

[Alex Bridgeman]

English bottled; purchased via auction from an Oxford college cellar. Deep brown centre with a touch of red, distinctly orange at the rim. Much fresher nose than the '31 Nacional tasted alongside it. A touch of spirit, leather and lots of Christmas pudding spices. The nose just keeps developing in the glass, bringing some meaty, Bisto tones. Very sweet entry, an initial impact of redcurrants and cloves. The wine thickens in the mouth with good development. The aftertaste is very long and incredibly fruity before turning into a smooth, milk chocolate. Amazingly, there are still tannins in the wine. It is a little spirity for perfection, but quite an astonishing wine for its age (the spritiness had gone when we came back to this wine 2 hours later). Wonderful to have tried it and to get a little closer to the legend. Not quite at the top of the wines I expect to drink this year, but certainly in the top quartile and no signs it will fade in the next 10 years so I give this a Tom rating of 8/8 or 94/100. Drunk March 2007.