1960 Quinta do Noval Nacional

Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
Forum rules
Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
Post Reply
User avatar
Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
Posts: 14880
Joined: 13:41 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Berkshire, UK

1960 Quinta do Noval Nacional

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Deep rose red colour, with a touch of orange on the rim. A delicate sweetness on the nose, like ripe wild strawberries. A nose buried in the glass brings out a dusty tone, some pepper and some liquorice with a touch of alcohol showing. Very attractive.

Balanced entry, a touch of glycerine adding to the texture. Initial thoughts are of sweetened redcurrants with just the right balance of sugar and acid. Beautiful balance in the mid-palate with lots going on—masses of fruit in the fore but with a background of herbs, spices and Liquorice All Sorts. A huge aftertaste that starts with a chocolatey tingle in the cheeks that just grows into a complex symphony of Christmas Cake flavours with dried fruits mixed in with deep, dark cake mix. An aftertaste that just keeps going.

This is a remarkable wine that has a huge palate presence and the traditional stunning aftertaste that is expected from a Nacional. While the wine is clearly mature, there is still the fruit and tannin required to allow this wine to hold well for a decade or two, but I doubt it will improve in that time. This is probably one of the 5 best wines that I will drink this year so I will score it a 10/10 on Tom’s scale or 96 points on the Parker scale.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
Post Reply