Who makes it
Luiz Vasconcelos Porto widened many of Quinta do Noval’s old terraces to improve land use and sun exposure. The historic Port shipper takes its name from its vineyard.
Christian Seely is Managing Director, Carlos Agrellos is Technical Director and Jose Eduardo Costa is Vineyard Manager. Production is roughly divided equally between Port and table wines; 15 percent of the dry wines are white.
Where it grows
The estate is at Vale Mendiz in the Pinhão Valley, in the Douro. Its 192 hectares of vines occupy different altitudes and aspects. Nacional comes from a small parcel of ungrafted vines untouched by phylloxera.
What they make
The Port range includes Quinta do Noval Vintage Port, Nacional Vintage Port and Unfiltered Late Bottled Vintage Port. Nacional uses a field blend of Douro varieties, including Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz and Sousão. The grapes are trodden by foot in granite lagares to extract colour, aromas and tannins during fermentation.
The estate also makes dry Douro wines.