NV Quinta do Noval Black

[Andy Velebil]

This is darker in color than most Ports of this type and it put on even more color by the second day after opening. Initially some tanky notes were noticeable on the nose, but those were gone by day 2 and 3, leaving the deep rich blackberries and some stoniness to shine. When I finally took a sip of this I was struck by three things immediately; it was medium-full bodied, full of dense fruit, and had massive tannins. On the palate the blueberries, black cherries, and pepper held up well to the chewy tannins. By day 3 the tannins had started to mellow, the pepper spice became more pronounced, and some chocolate showed up on the finish. Day 3 was when this really seemed to come together perfectly, with everything nicely balanced. This drinks more like a well made LBV than a Reserve Ruby. I also tasted this side by side over three days with the Noval "LB", which its replacing in the US. The "Black" is a big step above the "LB" in quality. This is now among my short list of favorite Reserve Ruby Ports.
91 points