Porto LBV by Quinta Do Noval

Let there be no doubt, Port Late Bottled Vintage Unfiltered 2009 Quinta Do Noval is incredibly good and worth every penny of its excellent price.

It may be because of its unfortunate position behind the bar, squeezed in between bottles of Gin and Vodka, or perhaps its room-temperature serving temperature, which can ruin reds and make fortified wines undrinkable, but the fact is that Port consumption in Italy has never really taken off. And more than a shame this is a crime against some of the leading producers of this wine.

Quinta do Noval is a star in Portugal and one of the greatest wine producers in the world, right up there with Yquem and Giovanni Conterno, but too few wine lovers know this. And even if its most famous wine, Port Nacional (a Vintage Port made from the estate’s best vineyard that has ungrafted vines), has a price tag that will make even the well-to-do wine lover weak in the knee, the rest of their line is available at approachable prices.

Late Bottled Vintage is a Port that divides sector experts but the best versions, the unfiltered wines which improve in the bottle, can give the Vintage wines a run for their money in blind tastings. They have the structure of a Vintage and soft tannins but do not need to age for decades. Quinta do Noval is the producer who created this type of wine in the 1950s and this 2009, made exclusively with estate grapes, is quite amazing.

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