QUINTA do NOVAL VINTAGE PORT NACIONAL EVENT
1931-2022
ALL PRODUCED FROM PRE-PHYLLOXERA GRAPES
OCTOBER 29 AND 30, 2022 LA LUNCHEON TASTINGS
Presented by Don Schliff and Robert Langer
Special guests: Christian Seely, James Suckling, Roy Hersh plus Bipin Desai and Pierro Selvaggio
Thanks to good friend, Don Schliff, I’ve attended many world class Vintage Port tastings that he has put on in LA. On each occasion, I have stayed at his house and assisted in the setup, decanting and organization.
All have been held at the Bel Air Hotel in Bel Air, CA in a private ballroom and served by the Wolfgang Puck restaurant staff. On this occasion, it was held over 2 days and the first day was at Puck`s Chinois On Main restaurant in Santa Monica.
These are black tie events that are attended by Port experts and wine/Port aficionados from all over the world. I feel quite privileged to be in the company of many of these who are principals of Port houses in Portugal, iconic wine writers, reviewers, owners of wine distributing companies and world class wine collectors among others.
One of the highlights is Don using Port tongs to remove the neck on especially the older bottles. He employs his own homemade Port tong/ canister holder setup and skillfully removes the necks before passing them on for decanting. Both processes require some skills as I’ve learned a lot as this is not your normal decanting method.
For some of the events, there have been 2 sommeliers, Rachel Macalisang, wine director at LAs Bazaar by José Andrés and Paul Sherman maitred of the Town Club in LA, who have assisted in labeling each and every stem for approximately 900 glasses before transferring the wines into them. There are usually about 35 people in attendance and always enough in the glass to get enough tastes throughout the 4+ hour period.
Everyone is provided with a large book that contains pages for tasting notes for each wine, tasting notes already made by many of the expert professionals and some history of these tastings.
As to the history of this event, Don explains the genesis really was initiated in 1969 when Addison Phillips, an internationally recognized artist, educator and humanitarian, opened the Studio Grill in West Hollywood and was the first to encourage winemaker dinners in a restaurant. He was especially a proponent of Vintage Port featuring many by the glass collectables on his wine list. In 1985, he and Don put on a black tie vertical of Taylor Vintage Port from 1980 back to 1908. In 1987, they did a vertical of Graham’s from 1983 back to 1927 and in 1988, Fonseca`s, from 1985 back to 1927.
Those luncheons attracted many top wine aficionados and led to an annual black tie Port luncheon held on the Saturday between Christmas and New Years which continued until Phillips closed the restaurant in order to become a winemaker in 1995 and opened the McKeon-Phillips Winery.
The luncheons set the precedent for many more events to follow starting in 1993 all the way up to the present day.
DAY ONE
October 29.2022 12 noon. Chinois on Main, Santa Monica
Don and I arrived at 9:30 am to set up. The restaurant already had many of their staff prepping and arranging the tables and chairs amidst Halloween decorations that hung from the ceiling and adorned the walls. The arduous process of removing 900 wine glasses from plastic crates began with the 2 somms and others helping out. Don and I arranged the wines and decanters on the bar counter, he set up his Port tong station as I prepared for the decanting process. One of the very adept somms used a Durand to open the younger bottles from 2000 on. After all had been decanted, I nosed each for any flaws of which there were no perceptible issues.
The menu and food pairing arranged by Wolfgang Puck were presented at each table setting of which there were 8 with a total of 35 people who were pre-assigned specific tables.
We started off with generously poured glasses of 2 champagnes.
NV CHAMPAGNE JACQUART MOSAIQUE BRUT from magnum- 40%* of Chardonnay, 35%* of Pinot Noir, 25% Pinot Meunier including 25% to 35% of reserve wines with a dosage of 9-10 gpl; it had bright acidity which properly served to clean our pallets along with fresh, crisp lemon and lime notes while being elegantly delivered to the back end in a light, frothy mousse.
MV KRUG 166 eme EDITION from magnum- the ID code provided information that states this is a blend of 140 wines from 13 different years with the oldest being from 1998 and the youngest 2010; it is comprised of 45% Pinot Noir, 39% Chardonnay and 16% Pinot Meunier; it spent at least 8 years on the lees and the cork was inserted in the summer of 2018; the wine was as impressive as its makeup offering nice, inviting aromas of honeyed apple and citrus that continued on to be joined by a touch of brioche and hazelnut; it had a creamy mousse, was full bodied and thankfully long. I enjoyed all 3 glasses. I`m ready!
Expert reviews were provided between flights by Roy Hersh, James Suckling and Christian Seely.
I was seated with 4 others, 2 of whom I had been seated with at the last event. We had a great table with everyone providing their input and impressions after we all had made our own notes which for me are as follows:
The first flight of 5:
1983 NACIONAL- light brown red color, mild nose but suggestive of wondrous sweet red plum which is on the palate along with some leather accented red cherry/ berry, love it for its hallmark of elegance; fav of the flight.
1984 NACIONAL- medium light red color, fruity good nose of caramel, more expressive on the palate and I had to back off and sip just a small sample, red cherry concentrate plus sweet maraschino, some heat at the end.
1985 NACIONAL- mild light red color, mild nose of pepper and cherry soda, love the flavor profile with lots of sweet fruit accented with caramel and butterscotch, viscous.
1986 NACIONAL- not officially declared thus no label on the bottle, but the top of the capsule indicated the source- see photo, medium red color, nicely balanced with lovely sweet red cherry/ berry.
1987 NACIONAL- darker color, bigger, bolder with more weight and depth than any others in the flight, sweeter too, the most expressive, but I went with the `83 for its elegance.
2nd flight of 5:
1991 NACIONAL- lightest color of any in the flight and so far, loved the nose which was redolent of maple which also accented the flavors along with nice licorice and mint chocolate laden cherry and black currant, even the color was maple. Loved this.
1994 NACIONAL- this was tasty candied cherry concentrate with lots of depth and complexity, really good and equal to the 91 and eventually the 98, it seemed to actually get better and ended up being fantastic, eventually lauded as one of the best on the day.
1996 NACIONAL- as with the `94, it had so much going on with layered depth and full on body, lovely black cherry/ berry all the way through, finished a bit hot.
1997 NACIONAL- super sticky and sweet featuring blackberry finishing initially a bit dry, but then not, but with some heat.
1998 NACIONAL- seriously fruity with loads of blackberry and blueberry all the way through, finished with everything coming together on an uptick, as good as the 91 and 94` in this flight.
3rd flight of 4:
1999 NACIONAL- as with all in this flight, the color was a dark purple and all were big and complex; this had serious depth and complexity abounding, it was a spicy delight that also had accents of dark chocolate laden black cherry/ berry.
2000 NACIONAL- fab nose true to the fab taste of sweetened chocolate covered black cherry, major depth, amazing finish, overall great.
2001 NACIONAL- big, sweet and tasty with maple accented dark fruit especially black currant, lots of energy, seemingly youthful and needing time.
2003 NACIONAL- the star of the flight IMHO and that’s saying something, spicy dark fruit with blackberry most prevalent delivered in a thick medium to the back end where it hung on forever, serious underlying tannins, full body+.
CHAMPAGNE BREAK- the perfect thing to do as everyone needed to move around and stretch a bit not to mention clear and rest our palates before moving on. Both the Jacquart and Krug were served again. Such a treat.
4th flight of 4:
2004 NACIONAL- all in this flight had a dark, purple color; tannic bomb here with licorice flavored dark fruit, but dry on dry.
2011 NACIONAL- a spice bomb with serious depth and complexity and super tasty blackberry, loved this for it amazing flavor profile, fav of flight.
2015 NACIONAL- youthful energy and discombobulation as in all over the place, lots of spice, dark fruit, vibrant, big and hot.
2016 NACIONAL- inviting nose that delivered on the palate with red plum and sweet red and black cherry, a fruit bomb throughout.
5th flight of 4 with a mystery wine last:
2017 NACIONAL- huge nose of spice and dark fruit, loaded up and tannic, needs a hundred years.
2019 NACIONAL- ditto with lots of blackberry dominated fruit, fav of the first 3.
2020 NACIONAL- intense, grapey, different from any others, big and clumsy, needs time, more than I have, curious as to what is wrapped up in foil coming up next.
MYSTERY WINE- light amber color, clear, fab nose of caramel, creamy, balanced, perfect, obviously older and I’m guessing 1929 or older; also, it’s my fav on the day=
1887 NACIONAL- a table mate called it from the 1880s.
It was a great first day. I met some new folks and reconnected with many others. It was a real treat to return to Chinois as I have enjoyed many a fine time there in the past including going there soon after it opened 38 years ago. On that note, Bella Lantsman, the current restaurant manager who oversaw the setup for our event, was there in the beginning.
Now for some rehydration, a good night`s sleep and another stellar day to look forward to.
DAY TWO
October 30, 2022 12 noon At Bel Air Hotel , Bel Air, CA
As we did the day before, Don and I arrived way early to set up and fortunately, Chinois had delivered all of the stemware to be washed and unpacked which saved a ton of time and energy for many of us.
The Port tong station and the long, narrow tables for all of the decanters and bottles were arranged and some guests started to arrive around 11 o’clock taking photos. Since all of the bottles were from older vintages, Don used the tongs for each one and it was quite a show watching him heat up the tongs, grip the necks, catch or trap the necks as they became detached and artistically arrange them around the Port tong station creating a Port neck mandala.
It seemed that everyone returned with the buzz they left with the day before as the high energy vibration was palpable. With everything in order and everyone ready, we got off to a righteously good start with a stellar champagne:
MV KRUG GRANDE CUVEE 159 eme EDITION- the ID code informed us this came from 120 wines from 10 different years, the oldest being 1988 and the youngest, 2003; there was an ample amount of 1996 in the 37% reserve blend; the cork was inserted in the winter of 2016-17; it is comprised of 51% Pinot Noir, 30% Chardonnay and 19% Pinot Meunier; after building up a good thirst prepping for the event, I happily accepted a tall glass and gracefully chugged it- no, I sipped it and loved it for its charming allure as it softly glided over the palate while depositing some fine spicy citrus and apple fruit over the sensory receptors as did its creamy mousse; it had body and some weight and yet was so easy and graceful featuring bight acidity that served to clean and prepare our palates.
Well prepared and ready, we returned to our seats for another round.
The first flight of 5:
1982 NACIONAL- as with all others in this flight, it had a light, amber color; fabulous nose of vanilla and licorice accented dark fruit which once tasted became blackberry, cranberry and black cherry concentrate; it had lots of body and weight and yet enough finesse and charm; off to a great start.
1980 NACIONAL- marvelous flavors abound in this one as it gave generous amounts of sweetened strawberry and red cherry that caressed the palate gaining momentum for a grand finish.
As an aside, I nosed all of the decanters prior to serving and the only one I had an issue with was this one, but it was about the nose being totally muted, not flawed. At the end of the day, both somms came over and asked me if I found any flawed wines and I said no. They then stated there was one, this one, and it was corked. I went back over to my glass, found zero TCA and asked them to retry theirs. Both did and found nothing, concluding it must have blown off AND was not TCA.
1978 NACIONAL- beautiful, sweet maple black currant, thick feel and also amazing grace as in gentleness; savory and delightful.
1975 NACIONAL- can it get any better? it did with this gem which was my fav of the flight and a candidate for the day and it comes from a weak vintage- no bias here; nose was redolent of spice and maple, I love maple; black currant, red and black cherry and blackberry; velvety texture, massive layered depth and length.
1970 NACIONAL- mild, but inviting nose, more maple, more blackberry/ cherry, more body and length and overall delicious.
2nd flight of 5:
1967 NACIONAL- big, fruity= blackberry/ black currant, serious, more fruit than most others, pepper and spice treat- love it.
1966 NACIONAL- great nose, loaded with sweet maple concentrate, dark fruit, delicious.
1964 NACIONAL- flavorful +, more maple, rich, dark chocolate blackberry, full, long and finesse.
1963 NACIONAL- inky, bigger, bolder, better and energetic; love it- should mellow with time and be perfect.
1962 NACIONAL- fab nose, elegance +, chocolate maple syrup, delicious, finished a bit hot.
3rd flight of 6:
1960 NACIONAL- mellow nose, but big wine; caramel, maple red and black cherry delight, thick, almost chewy.
1958 NACIONAL- ditto from the `60 only more intense and medicinal notes at end.
1955 QUINTA DO NOVAL- great nose, great taste, complete wine in balance, love it, fav of the flight.
1955 NACIONAL- fresh dark fruit nose, lovely sweet cherry/ berry, maple at the end= a taste treat.
1950 QUINTA DO NOVAL- the bottle had not yet arrived as it had to be ordered- to be drunk at the next event in February
1950 COCKBURN- Don pulled the wrong bottle so we used it anyway, but did not display the bottle until after it was tasted- fab nose of maple and caramel, wondrous dark fruit profile all the way to the back end and then caramel comes bak in.
CHAMPAGNE BREAK- we all moved into an adjoining bar area where more magnums of the NV Champagne Jacquart Mosaique Brut were poured- see notes above from Day One.
4th flight of 4:
1947 NACIONAL- medium light color, different profile in nose and taste- trying to ID?; some maple and caramel, but wild, dark fruit, maybe plum, black currant, black mission fig, but on the wild side.
1945 QUINTA DO NOVAL- darker color, intense nose and flavors, sweet, caramel, blackberry concentrate, nice balance.
1934 QUINTA DO NOVAL- darkest color of flight= teeth staining inky; nice and easy on the nose and palate, but huge and layered, maple finish; super wine, best of flight.
1934 NACIONAL- light amber color, spice cake nose, downhill from there, way different and tough to ID, one of my least favs of the event; palate fatigue? Need more Krug.
5th flight of 4- all from 1931, 3 bottled from different sources:
1931 NACIONAL- my earlier remarks about checking for flawed wines in the 1980 wine was challenged here as I got some underlying wet cardboard and oxidative, nutty notes; regardless, this had some redeeming qualities including its brilliant red color, its serious weight, depth, complexity and length and massive assorted dark fruit profile. Should have consulted the somms re any flaws- may still.
1931 QUINTA DO NOVAL {Sandeman}- another serious one with depth and length, sweet, fruity, cola, black cherry; amazing.
1931 QUINTA DO NOVAL {Fearon, Block, Bridges and Routh}- the best of the flight, so flavorful, layered depth, lots going on and ever changing dark fruit profile; almost too much, but not; another fav of the day.
1931 QUINTA DO NOVAL {Qunita do Noval}- ok nose, super sweet, candied cherry/ berry, licorice, tar; we’ve reached the end- any more Krug?
Day one
Both days:
This was quite the event. I’m not sure I have all the right superlatives to describe how special it was, but let’s throw in epic, legendary, once in a lifetime memorable, classy and worthy of a black tie format.
Cheers,
Blake
Amazing