Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage Port, Portugal

飞鸟园国家年份波特酒

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The 2011 Quinta do Noval Nacional has an entrancing bouquet that unfolds with time. It is extraordinarily concentrated with black currant pastilles, baked earth, a touch of terracotta and bay leaf that gains more dimension with time. Yet there is undeniable purity and elegance here, a seductive chorus of aromas perfectly in tune. The palate has a wondrous symmetry and focus, perfect acidity and immense purity. Everything here is so precise and at the same time, unassuming, as if this Nacional is aware of its breeding without the impulse to brag about it. It has closed down just a little since last year, but I take this as a positive sign that this legendary Nacional will delight for decades rather than years. This is the kind of elixir that leaves you speechless – surely the finest Nacional since the ethereal 1963. Drink 2020-2060. Tasted January 2014.

The Quinta do Noval Nacional 2011 is one of the most breathtaking, nascent Vintage Ports that I have ever met. The label should state a health warning: – “Sensory Overload” – since the bouquet is endowed with copious dark berry fruit, minerals, bay leaf and cloves that manifests like a slow-motion explosion from the glass. The palate is velvety-smooth on the entry, but do not let that kid you. Wave after wave of intense ripe black fruit lap along your sensory shoreline – indescribably harmonious with extremely well-judged acidity. There is a crescendo of flavors that build towards a sensual, date and raisin-tinged, magisterial finish that I can only analogize to the dramatic E-major chord that concludes The Beatles’ “A Day In The Life.” In fact, Lennon & McCartney’s magnum opus probably sums up the 2011 Nacional better than any descriptor I can think of. Tasted May 2013.Importer: Vintus Wines, Pleasantville, NY; tel. (914) 769-3000