Quinta do Noval, Nacional Port 2017

Such fine tannins and it goes on and on and on. Full-bodied, compact and very fine. Sweet plums and old-vine, bark character. Lasts for minutes. Feels dry.

The 2017 Nacional has an ethereal bouquet that takes time to unfold but delivers the same dazzling complexity as the last time I tasted it. Black fruit, graphite and pressed flower, perhaps a little more compact than you would expect, so perchance it is just closing down a tad. Excellent cohesion on the palate, spicy and peppery, a crescendo of flavours leading towards its bravura finish. The 2017 delivers, but it's a Port not for the faint-hearted. This is the "Wagner of Quinta do Noval"! Tasted at the Quinta do Noval tasting at Spring restaurant in London.

A field blend of old, ungrafted vines at the heart of the Noval estate, yielding tiny amounts of fruit. It's not quite as deep in colour as some of the more ‘modern’ wines here: it's demure but dense and tight-knit on the nose, with some Douro warmth showing through. The palate is rich and velvety initially, dense with some lovely dark chocolate and liquorice concentration mid-palate, wrapped around fine, broad tannins which pile up in the mouth leading to a peacock's tail of a finish. A wow of a wine showing great power, poise and integration.