2003 Quinta do Noval
Posted: 23:38 Thu 04 Jan 2018
Deep rose red in colour, 95% opaque at the centre. On the nose it is surprisingly lively, slightly aggressive and full of sweet but bruised strawberry with the bruised tone showing as a dirtiness to the scent. Oddly balanced entry, lots of spiky acidity giving an effervescent feel to the tongue but also with plenty of fruit that retains a nice freshness, but under all this is a baked layer of flavours showing the hot year that characterised 2003. The tannins are faint and show as a coating of licorice on the cheeks and edge of the tongue, but the main feature on the palate is the lack of balance between the acidity and the baked fruit. The aftertaste is hot, with the acidity dominating, before leading to a very long finish of baked berries and black chocolate. Very persistent finish. Hopefully another decade or two in the cellar will allow this to pull itself together into something much more interesting and impressive. 88/100. 05-Dec-17. Decanted 2 days.