Quinta do Noval said it had no hesitation in declaring the 2019 vintage of its highly prized Nacional Port.
‘It was not a difficult decision to declare the Quinta do Noval 2019 Nacional, which from our very first tastings after the harvest revealed a grandeur and depth worthy of the Nacional name,’ said the group’s MD, Christian Seely.
Produced from a small parcel of ungrafted vines at the heart of the Noval vineyard, only 200 to 250 cases of Nacional are generally made in any declared vintage.
Quinta do Noval has also this week declared its namesake 2019 vintage Port and Quinta do Passadouro 2019 – the first vintage produced from the estate acquired by the group in that same year.
‘I am thrilled by the quality of our first vintage from Passadouro, which shows great personality and clear terroir distinction, which I feel fully justifies our decision to acquire this vineyard,’ said Seely.
Of the Quinta do Noval 2019, the group said the wine was drawn from 13 different vineyard parcels across its 145-hectare estate. The group has made 2,780 cases, representing around 14% of total production.
It remains to be seen how many Port houses will follow Noval’s lead with the 2019 vintage. Declarations traditionally take place on or around 23 April – St George’s day in England – and recent years have seen a lot of activity thanks to the well-regarded 2016, 2017 and 2018 vintages.
Symington Family Estates said last week that it was declaring 2019 vintage Ports from six different quintas, or estates.
Two of these will be released en primeur, the group said, naming them as Quinta do Vesúvio and Dow’s Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira.
The other four 2019 vintage Ports will be aged in Symington cellars prior to release. They are:
- Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos;
- Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim;
- Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha;
- Cockburn’s Quinta dos Canais.
Charles Symington, fourth-generation head winemaker, said, ‘When reviewing the top wines from 2019, we felt that the best expression of our grape varieties came from our six principal quintas.
‘These estate wines are always the starting point from which we judge the year’s vintage Port potential and, from there, decide what to bottle.
‘In 2019, the various plots of vineyards within each of these estates delivered small volumes of wine with fantastic depth and complexity.’
He added, ‘We believe these wines could not have been enhanced by blending across each of our port houses’ top quintas to produce a ‘classic’ vintage Port. Instead, we decided to blend the best performing components within each of our estates and bottle six Quinta Vintage Ports.’
