Vintage Port has always played an important part in my wine cellar - it currently holds some 550 bottles of the stuff. I just love the way it evolves over time, from its powerful, fiery, fruity youth into its smooth, elegant and stylish adulthood and then slides away very gradually into a dignified, eventually fragile and nutty old age. The process can take more than half a century and the wine remains fascinating during its entire journey through time. Quinta do Noval is a firm favourite of mine among vintage port's top producers and in this post I would like to tell you how this came to be.
I have long been an avid reader of Michael Broadbent's Great Vintage Wine Books, as no doubt are many of you. No-one describes wines more succinctly and to-the-point than he does. It must have something to do with experience; he has been in the wine business since 1952 and has tasted more great wines than just about anybody else. When talking about the 1931 port vintage, he writes that: "the towering reputation of this vintage rests on Noval, a wine which I have long since thought of and described as the Everest of vintage ports." (The Great Vintage Wine Book II, Mitchell Beazley 1991).
Ever tasting this wine seemed well out of reach until I learnt in 2007 that Linden Wilkie of the Fine Wine Experience was laying on a tasting of Quinta do Noval vintage port in London. It featured Quinta do Noval and Quinta do Noval Nacional from the 1931, 1963, 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2003 vintages. Noval Nacional 1947 (sourced from the well-known Dutch collector Hans Jorissen, who sadly passed away in 2007) was thrown in as a bonus. A once in a lifetime opportunity presented itself and I decided to attend. "Vaut le voyage" as they say about 3 Michelin starred restaurants and I went on my way.
Before we come back to that, perhaps first some information about the Quinta do Noval, for which I will draw liberally on Richard Mayson's excellent book "Port and the Douro" (Mitchell Beazley 2004). Noval is located in the heart of the Douro valley in the Cima Corgo, some two kilometres from Pinhao and has some 145 ha of vines. The terraced vineyards rise from the Pinhao river (some 100 metres above sea level) to 350 metres at the summit of the valley. The terroir affords the wines a remarkable "starry" brightness of fruit that is a hallmark of these great wines and sets them apart from all other ports.
Noval is most famous however for its Nacional, the only vintage port to be made from ungrafted vines. There are some 2.5 hectares of these vines, located directly in front of the Quinta itself. The yields from these vines are miniscule - half of those from the rest of Noval's vineyards. Production is (very) limited to some 200-300 cases and the wine is by far the most expensive vintage port; prices in excess of Euro 500 per bottle are no exception. When the 1931 Nacional last appeared at auction in 2006, it fetched in excess of GBP 5,000 a bottle!
This figure made the hefty price tag for Linden's tasting almost seem like a bargain and Christian Seely's presence at the tasting was an added bonus. He has been in charge of the Quinta do Noval since AXA Millésimes acquired it in 1993 and did a great job restoring it to its true greatness after a slightly patchy performance in the 1970's and 1980's.
The tasting was a dream. All the wines performed beautifully (except for the 1997 Nacional which was corked, but Linden made up for that by stageing a retasting later in the year - which I also attended together with my wife and our good friend Panny Loucas). The wines from the AXA era all showed extremely well - in spite of their youth. The 1963 Noval was a nice surprise - much better than its reputation. The 1963 Nacional was absolutely fabulous and seemingly eternal, but was upstaged by the Noval 1931 - quite simply the most beautiful port I have ever tasted; it defies words. The 1931 Nacional was a bit muffled on the nose unfortunately, but it showed tremendous power - at the age of 76! The Noval and the Nacional are very similar in character in every vintage, but the Nacional has more power owing to lower yields - it is more brutish if you will. It certainly has broader shoulders.
This was the start of an intemperate love affair with Noval and particularly Nacional. I owned some vintages of Nacional before the tasting, but after it I started collecting like mad. From what I have been able to gather (Noval's records were lost in a fire in 1981), Nacional was produced in 1931, 1934, 1947, 1950, 1955, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003. Only 2001, 1975 and 1955 are now still missing in my cellar - and the oldest three unfortunately... I have managed to acquire a "straight" Noval 1931 (bottled by J&B) though. The Nacional 1964 we enjoyed at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in June (we were celebrating!) was absolutely delicious, star-bright, satiny textured and perfectly fresh at 46 - clearly showing the tremendous energy the terroir imparts on the wine even in a lighter vintage.
But you don't have to be a mad collector like me to enjoy the glories of Noval. Young vintages of Noval (2003, 2004) are easily available and priced around the GBP 50 mark. Competitive for a top-notch vintage port. Their second wine called Silval is very good too and keenly priced - the 1997 is stunning and getting into its own after 13 years. In the Nacional department 1996 is worth mentioning. It is one of Christian Seely's favourites but as the international wine critics have not picked up on this wine, it is far less expensive than most other vintages. The hottest tip however is perhaps the very rare Noval 1995 - in that year the Nacional was blended into the straight Noval! I picked up a case a few years ago at Euro 45 a bottle. Go out of your way to find it and if you do, don't hesitate!
Xavier Auerbach
