A very attractive, golden strawberry colour. A bit of an almondy, biscuity nose with a bit of dried fruit. Soft and gentle with a nice combination of fresh and dried fruit flavours, with a reductive oxidative note. There is also a touch of toast on the palate, which is rather curious. Excellent for a 10-year old tawny. Very Good Indeed.

A very bright colour. There's very forward fruit on the nose, but also a certain nuttiness. The palate is characterised by soft fruit and fresh flavours. This is a pretty good ruby, markedly superior to most, and not at all overly spirity. Although at €7.80 in Portugal, I wonder if there might be value-for-money issues here in the UK. Very Good Indeed.

The expectation at Noval is that the 1997 LBV should last around twenty years. There is intense black fruit on the nose with a bit of orange zest: a superb nose. Nice fruit: powerful and quite concentrated on the palate. It just seems a bit closed, but it's still very impressive. Very Good Indeed +

Silval will often drink earlier than many vintage ports, certainly earlier than Noval's own vintage ports.
This bottle was tasted at Quinta do Noval 31st May 2003.
An intense inky purple. A very closed nose - a bit brambly but difficult to get past the spirit at the moment. Excellent attack. Superb fruit. Length is massive. Huge structure. Hugely impressive, though fruit, alcohol and tannins have not yet married properly.

A very floral, very attractive nose. Extremely dry and not entirely drinkable with pleasure, and not even particularly good once tonic's been added.

A blend of tinta roriz, touriga francesa and tinta barrocca. Quite a porty nose with black fruit aromas. Good soft fruit. Fairly tannic and with a lot of acidity. A decent enough drop with the meal. Good.

Served blind at Quinta do Noval. Lightly chilled tawny. Orangey brown tan colour. Good mix of fresh acid, sweetness, fruit and dried fruit. Very fresh and clean. Lively and quite vibrant.
Bottled 2002.

Very dark and young looking, with a hint of purple youth on the rim. The nose is really powerful, with mulberries and violets. Smooth attack. Lots of fruit. Some spirit on the finish. This is very fruit driven, though not oversweet. Quite concentrated and really quite complex. The spirit blows off after a while. Very pleasant to drink now, but I'd give it 5+ years. Very Good Indeed.