Quinta Nova Late Bottle Vintage Port 2017
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Robert
Parker
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Quinta Nova de Nossa Senhora do Carmo’s Late Bottled Vintage has a modern style, in which aromas of blackberries and blueberries are combined with a succulent structure, fluid density, imposing gravity and a beautiful balance between alcohol and sweetness. It is an LBV with a long and precise finish, with great tension. As an unfiltered Port wine, it maintains its ability to evolve positively in the bottle.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Late Bottled Vintage Port is a field blend from old vines (100 years) bottled in April 2022 after four years in used French oak. It comes in with 110 grams per liter of residual sugar and has a long cork. It is lightly filtered but not cold stabilized—in other words, traditional in style. Sugary around the edges, this has good structure too, with delectable fruit. The admirable structure demonstrates some ability to age. I wouldn't really say this is really as good as the winery's 2020 Vintage Port in this report, but today it seems as good or better. It is certainly more evolved and drinking better. As the years wear on, that calculation may change—so, I'd give a slight nod to the Vintage Port—but this is no slacker in terms of aging either. The style differences may be more important than qualitative ones, certainly in the short run.
Other Vintages
2014-
James
Suckling
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Robert
Parker
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Robert
Parker
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Wine
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The Quinta gets its name from the patron saint of the 17th century riverside chapel on the property, where the crews of the Rabelo boats would pray for protection on this, which before the Douro was dammed would have been quite a dangerous stretch of the river. The chapel contains within it a statue of Nosso Senhora, which apparently is so heavy (despite its small size) that it takes a few strong men to lift it.
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F.
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.