De Bortoli Black Noble

Cellaring

The wine has been aged in barrel and is designed for current consumption but will keep in the bottle for several years.

Food Recommendation

Enjoy with Christmas pudding or sticky date pudding. Try poured over vanilla ice cream or with a cheese platter after dinner.

Awards

2022 Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Competition, Best Wine from Australia – Trophy
2022 NSW Wine Awards – Trophy
2022 Global Fine Wine Challenge – Double Gold Medal
2024 Australian Fortified Wine Show – Gold Medal
2024 National Capital Wine Show – Gold Medal
2024 NSW Wine Awards – Gold Medal
2024 The Drinks Business Global Fortified Masters – Gold Medal
2023 Australian Inland Wine Show – Gold Medal
2023 Cairns Wine Show – Gold Medal
2023 National Capital Wine Show – Gold Medal
2023 UK International Wine Challenge – Gold Medal
2022 Adelaide Wine Show – Gold Medal
2022 Australian Fortified Wine Show – Gold Medal
2022 Hobart Wine Show – Gold Medal
2022 Hong Kong International Wine and Spirits Competition – Gold Medal
2022 NSW Wine Awards – Gold Medal
2022 Sydney Wine Show – Gold Medal
2022 UK International Wine Challenge – Gold Medal
2024 Brisbane Wine Show – Silver Medal
2024 Cairns Wine Show – Silver Medal
2024 Cowra Wine Show – Silver Medal
2024 Decanter World Wine Awards – Silver Medal
2024 Perth Wine Show – Silver Medal
2024 UK International Wine Challenge – Silver Medal
2023 Adelaide Wine Show – Silver Medal
2023 Decanter World Wine Awards – Silver Medal
2023 International Wine & Spirits Competition – Silver Medal
2023 Perth Wine Show – Silver Medal
2022 Australian Inland Wine Show – Silver Medal
2022 Cairns Wine Show – Silver Medal
2022 Decanter World Wine Awards – Silver Medal
2022 Perth Wine Show – Silver Medal
2022 Riverina Open Wine Show – Silver Medal
2022 UK International Wine & Spirits Competition – Silver Medal

Reviews

Fortified botrytis semillon with an average age 10 years. Candied pecans, quince paste and coffee syrup. Molasses, Bonox and cola. Prune and black fig, truffle and tamarind pod. Decadently sweet and showing toasted sesame and bitter caramel on the finish. Drink from a short/fortified glass to move past the wafting spirit. It’s definitely a wine for pondering and uncovering its pools of flavours. 95 points.

Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion 2025, Aug 2024

Date, fig and almond log, roasted chestnuts, pecan and soft prunes. Wafts of integrated spirit lead to barrel notes of vanilla paste, coffee, salted caramel and wood varnish. Baked soda bread and rye. Takes on new life on the palate with gritty tannins and surging acidity. Caramelised apples and dried apricots get a new lease on life. This is well designed, well executed and continues on and on. Stunning. 97 points.

Shanteh Wale, Halliday Wine Companion 2024, Aug 2023

A blend of select barrels of Noble One, fortified and aged on average 10 years. Spiritous and heady, with a waft of volatility servicing punch and a lilt of freshness across notes of spiced dates, cinnamon, char, walnut, polished floor boards, tamarind and clove. Extremely exotic, unctuous and resinous. Morocco revisited in liquid form. The complexity, a given. The finish, endless. 96 points.

Ned Goodwin MW, Halliday Wine Companion 2023, Aug 2022

Gorgeous nose – all caramel, dark fruits and coffee. The palate is rich and sweet and full of lovely ageing fruit flavours. Very easy to drink. 97 points

Winestate Magazine, Jul 2022

Deep tawny-walnut core with a green tint into the rim. The nose speaks of both method and variety?€”toasty semillon characters sit with rancio, toffee and roast pistachio aromatics. Rich and powerful, with a depth and intensity that speaks of its age and development. Unctuous sweetness brings a generosity with notes of toasted nuts, toffee and exotic spices. Balancing that is a brush of tannin and a fine line of bright acidity. 93/100

Stuart Knox, The Real Review, Jul 2022

Admittedly a nostalgia pick. From the famous Noble One “botrytised” semillon grapes, an Australian classic fortified was born. Deep amber in colour. Rich “rancio” aromas (oxidative aged characteristics such as walnut, prune, raisin) prevail alongside coffee grounds and cocoa solids. The palate is intensely sweet, yet is bright and a little zesty. Medjool dates, chocolate and tar make this deliciously moreish. Carries its high alcohol seamlessly. 91/100

Paul Edwards, The West Australian, Jun 2022

Very dark tawny colour, indicating considerable age, with a slightly fusty toffee, honey and cr?¨me caramel aroma, the palate oily textured, sweet and syrupy, with a notable tannin grip , a hint of bitterness and a savoury aftertaste showing considerable rancio. 94/100

Huon Hooke, The Real Review, Jun 2022

A blend of aged botrytised semillon, average age 10yo. Amber, but transparent. Decadent aromas of dried tobacco leaf cum Cuban cigar, coffee bean, mocha, rancio, date, tamarind and clove. Exotic, but highly individual. Not fortified, so don’t expect the palatesweeping viscosity of that idiom, despite a rivalrous degree of palate-staining sweetness and intensity. 93 Points.

Ned Goodwin MW, Halliday Wine Companion 2022,, Aug 2021

This wine was originally made by Vittorio De Bortoli in the 1930’s but never released. It took a new generation to discover the secret of Black Noble. Since 1982, small parcels of fruit intended for the ‘Noble One’ – have been fortified and left to age in old barrels. The vintages are blended to give an average age of around 10 years. The base wine for Black Noble comes from 1972, which was a very early attempt to make a Sauternes style wine. This wine is completely unique to De Bortoli. 5 Stars.

Grape to Glass, Jul 2021

Opulent and plush with black fig, treacle, candied orange rind and hints of burnt caramel on the nose, while the palate is richly layered with bitter chocolate, coffee and lush peach. 97 Points.

Decanter, Dec 2020

What a smashing wine! It is almost black in colour, has an amazing array of aromas ?€“ raisins, coffee, chocolate, Christmas pudding and toffee. Oh yum! Some of my all-time, favouritest things!! On the palate it explodes with a multitude of delightful flavours with lovely rancio characters, a hint of anise, plenty of dark chocolate and toffee. It has great depth, structure and balance with perfect acidity so that while sweet it does not cloy and leaves the palate pleading for more.

 

Dan Trauki, Wine Assist, Sep 2019Gold and brown tawny with hint of green in the hue. It’s all about raisin fruit, dates, figs, caramel and brulee. Some of the fruit and lift of muscat with the density and flavour of aged tawny. Idiosyncratic perhaps, but not without the quality and pedigree to back it up. 94 Points

 

David Bicknell, Halliday Wine Companion 2020,, Aug 201A luscious complex and intense concerntration of dried apricots, dark figs, burnt toffee, fruit cake and walnuts. 4.5 Stars.

 

Winestate Magazine, Aug 2019Made from fortified botrytis Semillon that’s then aged in barrels for ten years, De Bortoli’s NV Black Noble isn’t quite black – more of a dark russet brown fading to amber at the rim. Strong espresso aromas accent dried figs and dates on the nose, while the full-bodied palate is a bit walnutty. There’s still a trace of the orange marmalade notes that must’ve been prominent prior to aging, bringing life and lift to the long finish. 92 Points.

 

Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate, Mar 2019Many [fortifieds] also have spent a fair amount of time aging, as is the case with this this botrytis Semillon that’s been ten years in barrel. It’s oozing opulence with a luscious and super concentrated palate of prune, dried fig, mocha and baking spice. It’s rich but not cloying.

Jo Burzynska, The International Wine and Spirit Competition News Blog, Jan 2019Full mahogany-brown colour; way out in left field all on its own. Super tangy, with dried and candied citrus peel notes. Full of its own rancio. Rating: 94

 

James Halliday, Wine Companion 2019,, Aug 2018“Australia is not the first port of call for dessert wines, but De Bortoli uses methods that acknowledge their Old World origins. Made from botrytised semillon grapes, fortified with both grape spirit and brandy, oak aged for up to 10 years, the final blend combines old and new wines using sherry’s Solera system. Immensely complex with concentrated notes of toffee, baked fruits and chocolate. Ideal for Christmas pudding, but also to drizzle over vanilla ice cream or sip with hard cheeses and chocolate-based desserts.”

Terry Kirby, Independent (UK), Dec 2017“A small parcel from the production of the iconic Noble One is fortified with brandy spirit then barrel aged for an average of 10 years. Complex aromas: raisins, espresso coffee, Christmas pudding spice, nutty rancio (a combination of walnut and butter) and dried mix fruit. It retains Semillon’s juicy acidity and lightness but bulked up with charred treacle and bittersweet coffee liqueur from barrel aging. Serve with pecan pie or squares of quality dark chocolate.” 9/10

Regan Drew, Daily News (Warwick), Aug 2017“Every man and his dog has heard of De Bortoli’s Noble One, but not a lot will have heard of the Black Noble. Each year the grapes from selected vineyards are left a little longer on the vine for Botrytis, a fungus, to set in. The Botrytis shrivels the grape, increasing the sugar content and sweetness of the Semillon fruit. The fruit is then picked, fermented and matured to create a lucious, sweet wine, that is often overlooked by many. To create the Noble Black the team age the wine in barriques, then using the solera system they blend older stock back with younger stock to create a superb, complex, yet utterly drinkable wine, with the average age of 10 years. It smells like fine tawny, but with definite Botrytis notes, caramels, roasted coffee notes and traces of honey. On the tongue it shows dried figs, grilled peach, toffee and tea leaf notes. At its best when it’s paired with desserts.”

BJ Foley, Weekend Post (Cairns), Aug 2017“What a wonderful way to wind up a Winter dinner! Botrytised Semillon with an average age of 10 years through a solera system which concentrates the complexity and richness. Luscious and unique. Awarded ‘Best Fortified Worldwide’ at the Hong Kong International Wine Challenge. Savour with tiramisu.”

Ian MacTavish, This Magnificent Life, Jul 2017“De Bortoli has a powerful Yarra Valley arm, but this luscious drop comes from its Riverina home base. With 17.5 per cent alcohol, it has deep amber hues, pecan pie aromas and intense raisiny front-palate flavour. Treacle, hazelnuts and cedary oak meld on the middle palate and the finish has chocolate characters. It’s derived from the acclaimed Noble One botrytis semillon dessert wines. A selected batch of Noble One grapes is set aside and crushed, with the juice being transferred to oak barriques previously used for Noble Ones. The mix is fortified and placed in a solera consisting of tiers of barrels. Wine is drawn off from the bottom casks and Black Nobles have an average age of 10 years.”

John Lewis, Newcastle Herald, Jul 2017“De Bortoli’s Black Noble was named Best Fortified Worldwide at the 2015 Hong Kong International Wine and Spirit Competition, a unique, complex style made from botrytis grapes and a touch of brandy”

Wine Companion 2017,, Sep 2016