QUINTA DO NOVAL Vintage Port 2019 Bottle

Description

Quinta do Noval Vintage Port 2019 is an outstanding expression, crafted with care and precision, earning remarkable scores from critics. James Suckling awards it 97 points, highlighting its enticing aromas of dried cherries, blackberries, and dark licorice, combined with a full-bodied structure and ultra-fine tannins that create an elegant texture. The Wine Advocate also gives it 97 points, praising its concentration and power, alongside fresh eucalyptus-laced aromatics. The wine is noted for its balance and long-lasting finish, indicating it will benefit from aging until at least 2029. Wine Enthusiast rates it 96 points, commending its elegance and rich structure, which promises significant potential for aging. This Vintage Port exemplifies the quality and excellence of Quinta do Noval.

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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.

In the case of 2019, the selection of 2780 cases represents 14% of our production.

GRAPE VARIETIES - Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinto Cão, Sousão, Tinta Roriz

JAMES SUCKLING 97 points
Aromas of dried cherries, blackberries and cassis with dark licorice, chocolate and graphite undertones. Full-bodied, with a ripe and mellow sweetness, and ultra-fine, silky tannins that flow through the palate for minutes. Lots of grip. Such an elegant texture, with great finesse. Long and seamless. Better from 2030.

THE WINE ADVOCATE 97 points
Drink Date: 2029 - 2075
"The 2019 Vintage Port is a field blend aged for 18 months in old wood vats. It was bottled May 4, 2021, and has 100 grams of residual sugar. It was in bottle only a bit more than two months when tasted, but it seems quite brilliant, even so. Very concentrated, it adds controlled power and coats the palate. Tasted with some other 2019s, this certainly stood out for both concentration and power. It touches all the bases in terms of expressive fruit and structure, finishing dry and seriously. It seemed balanced enough to drink young, but that would be a mistake. For one thing, it steadily tightened as it aired out. It also increasingly showed gorgeous eucalyptus-laced aromatics. Two days later, it was notably more astringent. Four days later, it was very firm on the finish and better overall. In fact, that was a far better showing than on day one. This is plainly built for the long haul. I would expect nothing less from a fine Noval Vintage Port. It became more focused and precise as well. This needs the rest of this decade, at least, in the cellar to show better. Then it will develop well for decades and hold indefinitely. Frankly, it won't show everything it has in even 10 years, where I have the "start drinking" window, so if you have a lot more patience, that would be useful. It will be more interesting around 2035-2040. This is a powerful beauty, well justifying Noval's tendency to declare most every year."

WINE ENTHUSIAST 96 points
Although 2019 was not a generally declared vintage by other Port shippers, Noval went its own way with this vintage. It is such an elegant wine, balancing black fruits against a massive texture for aging. A rich structure gives the wine density and enormous potential. Drink from 2030. — Roger Voss

VINOUS 96 points
The 2019 Vintage Port is one that I tasted a few months earlier at Pichon-Baron, and so unsurprisingly, there are few changes except that I feel that the nose has closed up ever so slightly since then. The palate is still velvety smooth, richer and slightly sweeter than the 2020, enormous depth towards the finish with a hedonistic veneer on the finish. Interestingly, this has less residual sugar than the 2020, but slightly more acidity. Superb. Tasted at the Quinta do Noval tasting at Spring restaurant in London. - Neal Martin

DECANTER 95 points
Tasted by: Richard Mayson
(at Quinta do Noval Decade Tasting, 21 Jun 2022)
Drinking Window: 2035 - 2060
A dry summer with moderate temperatures and perfect weather through the harvest, which lasted well into October. Closed and sullen on the nose with underlying density and a hint of graphite; much more expressive on the palate with lovely, rich liquorice-like intensity (though not as dense or concentrated as the 2020) combined with lovely purity and freshness (the hallmark of this vintage). Firm, spicy tannins mid-palate leading to a long linear finish. Mid-weight with a classic profile showing balance and definition.

JANCIS ROBINSON 17.5+ points
Black core with black-cherry rim. On the nose this manages to be both opulent and somehow secretive, hinting at a long future just in the aroma. On the palate, this has fabulous richness without excess weight, and a tannic structure that is built to last but not in the least aggressive, even in youth. Perfect balance between power, fruit and freshness. The texture is thick and velvety already, with just enough freshness for harmony. Deep-pile tannins, huge depth of dark hedgerow fruit and a dry, rocky finesse on the finish that undermines the sweetness. (JH)