2012 | Quinta do Noval | Vintage

Full body, lightly sweet and incredible integrity plus firm and ultra-refined tannins.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 2012 Vintage Port is revisited for a checkup. This is a blend of Touriga Nacional 70%, Touriga Franca 25 % and Tinto Cão 5%, which was aged for 18 months in wood and comes in with just 89 grams per liter of residual sugar. This has become more intense and more impressive, closing down a bit since I first saw it. It may not have quite the underlying concentration and focus of the 2011 (also reviewed), but it is a much fresher and more lifted Port, with fine fruit front-and-center. It simply seems more invigorating, more gloriously alive. I wouldn't be surprised if many like it better right now than the 2011--although that won't likely be the answer 25 years from now. It otherwise retains the style of all of Noval's wines here--elegant in the mid-palate, more focused on aging than lushness and sweetness. It certainly seems quite brilliant for the year. Originally, I was afraid I might have overrated it as it was so exuberant and showed so well nearer to release. Now, I'd be more likely to question whether I'm underrating it. It's never as obvious as some Big Boys and it probably is the third of the 2011-2012-2013 trilogy from Noval this issue (only by a hair), but it has its own virtues and plenty of them.

• James Suckling: This is one of the few vintage Ports declared in 2012 and it's wonderfully structured with finesse. It's black-colored and shows intense aromas of crushed grapes, granite stones, flowers, light raisins, tar and licorice. Full body, lightly sweet and incredible integrity plus firm and ultra-refined tannins. Beautiful grip and length. Reminds me of the 1964, which is a classic now.

Producer Information

Quinta do Noval, established in 1715, is one of the only Port houses to be located in the heart of the Douro Valley of Portugal. It is perhaps best known for its Nacional Vintage Ports, the 1963 is considered by many critics to be the greatest Port ever made. Quinta do Noval is also one of the only houses that is named after its most famed vineyard, in this case the Quinta do Noval. The majority of the vineyards at the quinta are planted with the noble varieties of the Douro: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Cao. These grapes do well on the mix of schist and clay soil types found here. There was a large scale replanting of the vineyards in 1994, and each plot was planted with a variety that best suited that soil, altitude and exposition. Historically, the vineyards had been planted in blended plots; however this practice is dying out in the Douro, as the plantings become more specific to individual terroir. In the heart of the Quinta do Noval vineyard is a small plot of ungrafted vines that were lucky enough to avoid the devastation of phylloxera in the 19th Century. These grapes are used in the Nacional wines. Alongside the production of fine Ruby and Tawny ports, the house also produces an unfortified style of Douro wine, as well as the newest introduction, the Noval Black, a Port that is made to be drunk young and fresh, without age or decanting. Since 1993, the managing director has been Chris Seely who is also in charge of a host of vineyards within Europe, as part of the AXA Millesimes group. This investment group also owns estates such as Château Pichon-Longueville, Château Pibran as well as Disznóko in Hungary.

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