1937 Quinta do Noval Colheita (bottled 1994)

[jdaw1]

On Thursday 19^th December 2013 a subset of the obvious suspects gathered at The Bell in Wendens Ambo to taste old, peculiar and unknown bottles.

Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• Sticky labels and other paperwork, and parameters by which constructed.
• Planning and arrangements.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Bottled 1994. Deep brown centre, 40% opaque. Typical colheita nose, gentle but showing intense concentration of flavour. Lovely texture on the palate; huge levels of acidity with the sourness dominating and causing a lack of balance. An interesting array of flavours on the dry aftertaste; sadly the finish is rather short. 86/100.

[RAYC]

Good colheita with lovely concentration, albeit some alcohol burn and a slightly unrefined feel to this - 89

[Glenn E.]

Either y'all are messing with me, or you had an off bottle. 86 and 89 for a '37 Noval Colheita?

[RAYC]

Either y'all are messing with me, or you had an off bottle. 86 and 89 for a '37 Noval Colheita?

Possibly did not get enough air to show full potential, possibly I tasted this after quite a few other ports so was suffering from fatigue. I might also be a bit more stingy with marks when drinking multiple ports alongside each other (rather than one or two bottles on their own). It's also possible that 20yrs in bottle has not been beneficial and that the later bottlings show better.

Does this have a reputation of being a "blockbuster" colheita?

[DRT]

Does this have a reputation of being a "blockbuster" colheita?

Yes, 1937 in general and particularly Noval.

I suspect it is the bottle age that is the problem. Do we know how/where it was stored for nearly 20 years?