Quinta do Noval Nacional Vintage 2022 Port
€ 1,399.00
| Producer | Quinta do Noval |
| Region | Douro |
| Grapes | Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão |
| Ageing | 18 months in wooden casks |
| Alcohol | 19.5%vol |
| Serving | 12-15°C, decant before serving Keeps 2 days at most once opened |
| Drinking window | 2030-2070 (according to Robert Parker) |
| Scores | 20/20 Grandes Escolhas 98/100 Robert Parker |
Nacional 2022: 20/20 from Grandes Escolhas, from an extremely dry, hot year.
Tasting note
Exceptional power, structure and purity. Sweet dark fruit alongside powerful, savoury, spicy and earthy notes, fresh and lively, with mint and liquorice. Rich and opulent on the palate, with stunning freshness, pure and concentrated, bursting with pure blackberries, with impressive intensity, tannic expression and depth.
The story
‘Nacional’ refers to Portuguese vines on Portuguese soil, with no foreign rootstock. When phylloxera destroyed most European vineyards in the late 19th century, this plot at Noval survived on its own roots. A Nacional Vintage Port is made only in the best years, each time just a few hundred cases: one of the rarest and most sought-after Ports in the world.
2022 was a remarkably dry year: Noval received 364 mm of rain, 276 mm below average. In July temperatures reached 45.5°C at Noval, and on 15 July Pinhão recorded 47°C, the highest temperature ever measured in Portugal. Even so, the Douro’s vineyards and grape varieties showed remarkable resilience.
The grapes are foot-trodden in the quinta’s stone lagares and macerate during fermentation for optimal extraction. The wine ages for eighteen months in wooden casks in the quinta’s air-conditioned cellars in the Douro before bottling.
Food pairing
A delicious digestif, also with rich aged cheeses, dark chocolate or chocolate mousse.
The producer
Quinta do Noval appears in the land registry as early as 1715 and lies in the Pinhão valley, in the heart of the Douro. In 1894 the Port shipper António José da Silva bought the estate, and his family ran it for almost a century. In 1993 Noval passed to AXA Millésimes, with Christian Seely at the helm, who had most of the vineyards replanted.
Noval’s most famous asset is Nacional: a small plot of ungrafted vines, never touched by phylloxera, right by the house. It yields a Vintage Port only in exceptional years, in tiny quantities. At Noval the grapes are still foot-trodden in stone lagares.
Critics & Awards
20/20 Grandes Escolhas | Tasted: Jul 2024
98/100 Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate | Tasted: Dec 2024
Drinking window: 2030-2070
Drinking window: 2030-2070