2018 | Quinta do Noval | Vintage

The wine is wonderfully ripe, full and exuberant, spicy on the nose, with very fine long tannins and a classic Noval purity and elegance.

Reviews:

• Wine Advocate: The 2018 Vintage Port is a field blend aged for 18 months in old wood vats. It comes in with 100 grams of residual sugar. This was bottled May 13, 2020. Simply gorgeous, this is aromatic, chock-full of flavor and wholly delicious—but that's just the starting point. It has a serious backbone too, perfectly countered by the mid-palate depth. More than lovely, it might well be my favorite of the 2018s I've seen thus far, if I were forced to pick just one. It is surprisingly accessible, in a way, but that's because the mid-palate soaks up the power. It was certainly still vibrant days later. It should age well, but let's be just a little conservative now in evaluation and drinking windows.

• James Suckling: This has an attractive nose with fresh dark berries, grilled herbs, chocolate and wet stones. Hints of kirsch, too. Full-bodied with moderate sweetness and an array of fine, marble-polished tannins. Lively, almost crunchy dark fruit character with so much finesse and delicacy.

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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