2013 | Quinta do Noval | Vintage

Intense and showing plenty of power to go with its finesse, this evolves beautifully with air.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 2013 Vintage Port is part of our mini-vertical this issue. Still tight, intense and showing plenty of power to go with its finesse, this evolves beautifully with air. The firmness on the finish here is impressive, giving this a chance to continue developing beautifully. It is not as expressive as the 2012—it is a bit more backward—but it is a more serious wine in many ways. I'm still a believer in this, although it certainly seems a step behind the biggest winners in the mini-vertical. This has some questions to answer in the cellar, but I think they will be answered to the satisfaction of most.

• Wine Enthusiast: Noval has often in the past released a Vintage Port in years when other producers hold back. And, as in the past, the release is justified. For this is an impressive, dense and seriously age-worthy Port. While it has plenty of perfumed jammy red fruits and balanced acidity, it is the dark tannic character that will sustain this wine for decades. It could be drunk now for its fruit, although that would be a shame.

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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