Quinta do Noval
Touriga Nacional 2017
Douro DOC
Intense and concentrated, with fine tannic structure, Touriga Nacional is distinguished by its delicacy, a characteristic of the Quinta do Noval style. It is the product of a strict selection from the best lots produced by the Quinta in any given year.
Vineyard
This wine is entirely made with Touriga Nacional, from the Quinta do Noval vineyard in the heart of the Douro valley.
Winemaking
This wine is fermented in stainless steel vats for a period of 10 days, where it then undergoes malolactic fermentation. After fermentation, the wine is aged in wooden barrels for 10 months, with 35 % in new French oak barrels.
Tasting Note
This fine floral and peppery wine offers a nice balance and texture. Violet, cherry, minerality and spice flood the midpalate, with notes of dark chocolate on the finish. Extraordinary balance and poise. – Carlos Agrellos, Technical Director
Vintage
2017 was characterised by a cold, dry winter followed by an exceptionally hot and dry spring and summer. Apart from heavy rainfall (25 mm) on 6 July at Quinta do Noval, only 300 mm of rain fell since November 2016.
June was the hottest month since 1980, with temperatures reaching 42-44°C in the Douro Valley during a heat wave lasting from 7 to 24 June. Due to these extreme weather conditions, all phases of the vine’s growth were 15 to 20 days early compared to 2016.
The vines weathered the shortage of water and the high temperatures well. At the end of August the harvest looked very promising, with excellent sanitary conditions. Harvest started much earlier than usual due to the weather: from 17 August for the white wines and 21 August for the reds and the Ports, lasting until 28 September, with high temperatures and a total absence of rain.
Color
Red
Grape Varieties
Touriga Nacionale
Appellation
Douro DOC
Alcohol
14%
Suggested Retail Price
$50
Reviews
"Fresh, pure and understated"
Wine Advocate - May 7, 2020
"The 2017 Touriga Nacional was aged for ten months in French oak of varying ages (only 35% new). It comes in at 14% alcohol. This was bottled about three weeks before being tasted and will be released in 2020. More generous than the other monovarietals tasted this issue from Noval, this also has the best structure while retaining the silky demeanor of the Petit Verdot. Fresh, pure and understated, this Touriga is a perfect food wine. You can approach this right away, as the tannins are not astringent."
"Shining and polished"
Wine Enthusiast - October 16, 2020
"Ripe and elegant, this is a fine wine. Its perfumed character is balanced by the firm tannins that give the wine structure and density. The wine has a sense of restrained, black plum fruits shining and polished from wood aging."
"A level of elegance rarely attained"
Wine & Spirits - November 4, 2020
Top 100 Wine of 2020
"This has the textural beauty of the schist-rich air on a cool summer night in the Douro. Its silken refinement takes touriga to a level of elegance rarely attained, the variety's floral notes rising from the schist in the delicate scents of rosemary and rose. That delicacy is there when you first open the bottle, though the youthful tannins build in a crescendo of mineral power to block off the finish, relenting slowly as the wine opens with air. Noval made a major investment in touriga nacional when replanting the stone terraces in front of the quinta in the 1990s. If this is a sign of those vines coming into maturity, there will be more astonishing wines to come."
Trade Materials
Other Wines by this Producer
Douro Reserva
Douro Valley, Portugal
Very powerful and structured, it is outstanding for its finesse, a delicate character typical of the Quinta do Noval style. It is derived from a strict selection of the best batches of the Quinta's various indigenous grape varieties. This wine is delicious when young and ages well in the cellar.
Fine White Port
Douro Valley, Portugal
A white port made with traditional white grape varietals from the Douro Valley. It is a blend of wines aged between 2 and 3 years to create a wine that is fruity, fine, sweet, unctuous, with a good aromatic persistence.
Branco Reserva
Douro Valley, Portugal
An authentic white wine with the ambitious to represent the best white wine produced in the Douro Valley. It is derived from a strict selection of the best batches of the Quinta's various indigenous grape varieties. Rich and structured, it is outstanding for its finesse and intensity
Vinhas da Marka
Douro Valley
Vinhas da Marka is the very first edition of a new exciting project called ‘Terroir Series’. Every edition will focus on one specific terroir that was identified that year as exceptional. A few years ago, Quinta do Noval concluded an agreement with the Agrellos family for the long term lease of the vineyard of Quinta da Marka, which we had identified as having terroir of exceptional potential. This potential was revealed by the outstanding red wines produced in the 2019 vintage. It was so remarkable, that the Noval team has decided to release a very limited volume of that wine. Only 200 bottles was brought into the US.
Fine Ruby Port
Douro Valley, Portugal
This is a deep-colored lively, peppery wine full of fresh fruit flavors it is bottled after three years in cask. An ideal Port for informal drinking.
Late Bottled Vintage Single Vineyard Port
Douro Valley, Portugal
This wine is a remarkable example of the Noval style. Treated exactly like a Vintage Port with only noble grape varieties that sourced exclusively from estate vineyards, trodden by foot and unfiltered. This expression differs in its extended aging, seeing five years in casks instead of the typical two years for Vintage Ports. Definitely an LBV with a difference, this wine has fine structured tannins, great freshness and purity of fruit. It is delicious to drink today, but will age beautifully in its bottle.
Tawny 40 Year Old Port
Douro Valley, Portugal
Noval was the first port house to introduce blended tawnies with an indication of average age. Their eldest offering, the Noval Tawny 40 Year Old Port, is a remarkable representation of the quintessence of the Noval Tawny style: a profoundly concentrated and complex old wine, the memory of the house.
Cedro do Noval Branco
Douro Valley, Portugal
Named after the emblematic cedar tree that dominates Quinta do Noval's terrace, Cedro do Noval is an authentic expression of the Douro. It is made at Quinta do Noval using carefully selected grapes 100 % grown on the highest steeply terraced vineyards of Quinta do Noval, in the heart of the Douro Valley, in Northern Portugal.
Colheita
Douro Valley
Colheita is a Vintage Tawny Port. Wheras Tawnies with an indication of age show the house style, Vintage Tawnies show the personality of the vintage year. Colheita spends its entire life in barrel until the moment of bottling. On the nose they are fresh, powerful and fruit-forward, with balanced acidity. On the palate they have a nutty, oxidized character with a seductively smooth finish.
