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More wines available from Quinta Do Noval
750ml
Bottle:
$72.95
This is a complex white with aromas of dried lemons, nutmeg, cedar, jack fruit, praline and salted caramel. It’s...
750ml
Bottle:
$20.40
Blackberries, blackcurrants, bitter chocolate, iodine and tobacco on the nose. Medium to full body with firm tannins....
750ml
Bottle:
$16.94
$18.34
The NV Black cuvée comes half from estate vineyards (the rest is sourced from the Cima Corgo region in the Douro...
750ml
Bottle:
$244.94
The nose is marvelously complex and seductive, aromatic and fine, revealing ripe fruit, minerality, subtle leafiness...
Pre-Arrival
Quinta Do Noval Port Nacional Vintage 2001
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$749.44
$797.28
This sports serious heft, with a core of brooding fig jam, ganache, Christmas pudding and pastis-soaked black currant...
More Details
Winery
Quinta Do Noval
Vintage: 2012
2012 has, so far been a positive year for wineries around the world. While it may be a little too early to speak of the wines being made in the northern hemisphere, European and North American wineries have already begun reporting that their harvesting season has been generally very good, and are predicting to continue with the kind of successes they saw in 2011. However, 2012 has been something of a late year for France, due to unpredictable weather throughout the summer, and the grapes were ripening considerably later than they did in 2011 (which was, admittedly, an exceptionally early year). French wineries are claiming, though, that this could well turn out to be advantageous, as the slow ripening will allow the resulting wines to express more flavour and features of the terroir they are grown in.
The southern hemisphere has seen ideal climatic conditions in most of the key wine producing countries, and Australia and New Zealand particularly had a superb year, in particular with the Bordeaux varietal grapes that grow there and which love the humidity these countries received plenty of. Also enjoying a fantastic year for weather were wineries across Argentina and Chile, with the Mendoza region claiming that 2012 will be one of their best vintages of the past decade. Similar claims are being made across the Chilean wine regions, where Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon had an especially good year. These two grape varietals also produced characterful wines on the coastal regions of South Africa this year.
Region: Porto
The city and region of Porto in Portugal has long been regarded as one of the most important wine producing areas on earth, and home to many of the world's most distinctive and characterful wines and fortified wines. So important was it, in the 18th century, it became part of the third ever protected wine region, following one in Hungary, and one in Italy. The wineries of Porto have generations of experience and expertise when it comes to working their land, and the fertile valley sides in the Douro region where Porto is found offers plenty of opportunities for growing a wide range of grape varietals. Most commonly, Porto wineries cultivate Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cão, Tempranillo, Touriga Francesa, and Touriga Nacional grapes, as these are the primary varietals used in the production of Porto's famous Port wines.
Country: Portugal
Most of us are quick to associate Portugal primarily with the excellent fortified wines which come out of the Porto area, but there is much more to Portuguese viticulture than just this. Perhaps the most popular still wines the country produces are the varieties from the Vinho Verde region, which uses grapes that do not achieve high doses of sugar, meaning the wines are at their best when young and full of natural, springy fruit flavors The wines of the Douro region have undergone many transformations in their flavor and character over the centuries; once regarded as a bitter wine, the exporters experimented with fortifying the wine with brandy. After several centuries, vintners found a balance in the modern age which is at once reminiscent of Port wine, yet with the structure and character closer to other fine Portuguese wines. Thanks to the appellation system of Portugal and the strict laws governing wine production, Portuguese wines continue to maintain their reputation for quality and the distinctive characteristics they carry.