Quinta do Noval, 2020 Vintage Port
Vintage Port, Douro
Includes Gift Box With Accessories
***92 Points-(MS) Wine Advocate***
Bottle size: 75cl
ABV: 20%
Price:
$131.73 USD
Description
The 2020 Vintage marks the tenth consecutive Vintage Port release from Quinta do Noval, in line with their long-held belief that the quality of the vintage, not the market, should be the only determining factor in whether a Vintage Port is made. In the case of 2020, Christian Seely describes these wines as “exceptional”, with a hot and dry summer resulting in an unusually early harvest and higher residual sugars. The wines display an “unusually powerful and rich style but nevertheless retain the purity and freshness of Pinhao valley fruit that are typical of Noval wines”.
Quinta do Noval Vintage Port is characterised by its purity of fruit and a fine, delicate quality that is typical of the wines of the property in general, but which finds its most remarkable and enduring expression in the Vintage Ports.
Equilibrium, harmony, finesse and elegance characterise our great Vintage Ports, which are declared only when we are certain that the year has produced a blend, however small, that is worthy of bearing the name of Quinta do Noval Vintage Port.
Noval follows its own path in its approach to Vintage Port. If we believe that we have wines of the quality and personality to join the ranks of the Quinta do Noval Vintage Ports of previous years, we will bottle it and declare it, even if this means declaring several years in a row, and even if it means, as is often the case, bottling only a few hundred cases of Quinta do Noval Vintage Port, representing a tiny percentage of the total production of the Quinta.
Of course, in very great years, when there is unanimity among Port producers, and a General Declaration results, Quinta do Noval will declare its wine also, and perhaps with a little more wine than usual. But whatever the year, the standards of selection in the Noval tasting room are extremely rigorous, and even in the more generous years volumes of our Vintage Ports are always extremely small: at the very most, up to 15% of the production of our great vineyard terroir.
Reviews:
2020 was a hot and dry year, with a prolonged ripening period throughout
the summer that led to an early harvest, as the grapes became fully ripe
by early September.
The resulting wines are extremely rich and powerful,
voluminous, sensual, with great density. Tannic structure is immense, but
with remarkable finesse.
Learn more about Quinta do Noval
Condition
Excellent
Reviews
***92 Points-(MS) Wine Advocate***
The 2020 Vintage Port is a field blend aged for 18 months in old wood vats. It was bottled April 2, 2022, and has 115 grams of residual sugar. There is almost no Touriga Franca in the blend this year, the winery saying the heat in 2020 damaged the grapes. The rest works well, but it's a bit different. This is sexier and softer than the typical Noval, utterly delicious, sweeter and ripe. The tannic backbone is far less impressive, but there is some. As always, the color is dramatic, a dark purple. This probably won't be the Noval with the highest upside or the longest life, but it will certainly be one of the ones that is hardest to resist on the younger side. For the moment, let's start here. You can dive in early on this. If it has more potential, it will need to show that in the cellar.