I was recently invited to a tasting of port and related wines from Quinta do Noval. As most my knowledge on this topic stems from days of cheap excess at university, I jumped at the opportunity and I am very glad I did. Quinta do Noval is owned by the AXA group in France and the tasting was run by their International Sales Director. A charming fellow who’s job it is, is to live at Ch Pichon-Longueville opposite Ch Latour and travel the world talking up their port, Ch Pichon and the rest of their stable which includes Ch Suduiraut and Disznoko in Tokaj.
First up were their 3 table reds. Maria Mansa Tinto 2003 is the entry level red. Musty nose and dryish fruit, it is an old style of wine with hints of briar, pencil shavings and cider box. For $30, ok but there are better drops out there to spend one’s dollars on.
Next up, Cedro Do Noval Douro Doc 2005, $40. I had had a bottle of this recently and enjoyed this one just as much second time around. An old world meets new world style of wine. Savoury but with good fruit definition. Fruiter nose than the first wine, I got aniseed flavours again with cider and tobacco but with a lovely earthy texture. Shiraz is added to the local grape varieties to round out the palate.
Finally their flagship wine, Quinta Do Noval Douro Doc 2005, at $115. A beautiful wine, very fragrant nose, with much better balance. Again star aniseed type flavours with a hint of vanilla bod. It is not made every year and in 2006, the fruit will be declassified back into the Cedro which will make this wine great buying.
At this point it is fair to say the 8 of us sitting around the table room were quietly champing at the bit to get our hands on the 9 ports sitting on the table behind Aymeric, the affordable Frenchmen who was running the tasting. It was also clear by this stage that everyone else in the room knew a lot more about vintage Port than me. So here are my observations as a complete novice.
Quinta Do Noval Tawny $32. The beginning and end of my comfort zone. Typical deep red colour, sweet and fruity. The comfort zone was definitely over when Aymeric told us he keeps his Tawny in the fridge at home and has a glass normally when he gets home. All those cellars full of Pichon and he drinking cold Tawny, umm.
Quinta Do Noval 10 YO Tawny $75. Compared to the “traditional” Tawnys I have known in the past, this was a much lighter brownie colour with less stewed fruit and more nutty flavours.
Quinta Do Noval 20 YO Tawny, $140. Now we were getting serious, 20% grape spirit by volume, the colour was a much darker brown with a strong spirity nose similar to old Armagnac with absolutely no resemblance to any port I had encountered before. This was one of my favourite wines of the evening. In addition to the nutty flavours, there was range of flavours including dark bitter chocolate. Aymeric suggests drinking it with passionfruit crème brulee. I will buy more of this in due course.
Quinta Do Noval Colheita Tawny 1995, $90. A vintage tawny port, not that I knew there was such a thing. Raisin muscatel nose, dryer in style than the preceding drops again with a high alcohol content. Not a big favourite around the table.
Quinta Do Noval LBV. Unfiltered with 4 years in the barrel before bottling, this port has a more fruity complex nose with a palate of stewed fruit. The interesting fact about this port is they do a filtered version for the German market.
Quinta Do Noval ‘Silval’ Vintage Port 2005, $90. Intended to be approachable at an earlier age, this was the second favourite of the evening and 2 cases now sit in the cellar. They recommend waiting 10 years before opening and thereafter it should last another 10 years or so.
Quinta Do Noval Vintage Port 2003, $165. The first of the three big guns. Huge wine, almost medicinal nose with a massive mid section. All arms and legs all over the place. One needs to put this away for at least 20 years. 4000 cases.
Qunita Do Noval Nacional 2000. High spirit nose, more balance and integration than the 03 VP with 150-200 cases but at this stage, not really that pleasant to drink. The only real reason to open it now was to provide a contrast with the final port
Quinta Do Noval Nacional 1967, approx $3000pb. The big daddy of the tasting and the reason most of us were there. To be honest with no prior experience of old VPs hence no point of reference, it was hard to know what to expect. Initial impression was the amazing waterfall down the side of the glass, a nutty nose and incredible length on the palate. The fruit has all gone but the port retains an amazing freshness. At the end of the day, this reminds me more of old Armagnac than any $20 Tawny I have had in the past which is not that surprising given the quantum of grape spirit.
You can only imagine what it cost me to stock up on wines such as the 05 Bordeaux et al.