Quinta Do Noval Nacional 1996 ex-winery w/box 750ml

Jancisrobinson.com, Oct 12, 2013
They were presumably in a hurry to make a statement at this stage in the AXA era and Seely admits it doesn’t have quite the finesse he'd like but it did stick out from the rest of the harvest at the time. Very dark crimson – huge intensity of colour. The vintage was quite cool towards the end. Liquorice and leather on the nose without quite the lusciousness of the 1994. Quite firm and angular on the finish. Very vigorous and leathery in texture. Very firm.

Quinta do Noval, established in 1715, is one of the only Port houses to be located in the heart of the Douro Valley, instead of Villa Nova de Gaia, where the majority of other producers have their wine aging. It is also one of the only houses that is named after its most famed vineyard, in this case the Quinta do Noval. It is perhaps best known for its Nacional Vintage Ports and its 1963 version is considered by many critics to be the greatest Port ever made.