1931 Niepoort Garrafeira (bottled 1979)

[Alex Bridgeman]

Bottled 1938 and decanted 1979. Dark brown chestnut centre, opaque. Funky nose dominated by cabbages and meat juices - remarkably similar to the nose of the Nacional 1931 that was shown at Linden's Noval vs Nacional tasting in March 2007. Sweet entry, very smooth. Flavours come through as funky at first (cabbage) but the wine is very thick and dense and shows many layers of fruit as it is held in the mouth. The warm aftertaste grows slowly and stays as a long and dwindling toffee glow. 93/100. Drunk July 2007.