Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
From an early harvest after a hot summer which produced a small quantity of super-concentrated wines: wonderful inky-crimson colour; closing down on the nose but with underlying ripe plum and berry fruit, almost minty and exotic in its ripeness; made in a deliberately rich style with more residual sugar than normal, dense on the palate with broad ripe, gravelly tannins and a big expansive finish. Still a little raw but with beautiful opulence overall and nothing baked or stewed here, despite the heat and power of the vintage.
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Wine Spectator
A solid, dense and even slightly chunky Port, with baker's chocolate, black currant and plum reduction and licorice root notes mixed together and then backed by a Black Forest cake accent through the grippy finish. There is a lot going on here, and this is among the more backward wines of the vintage. Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Cão, Sousão and Tinta Roriz. Best from 2038 through 2060.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Reminding me of the 2003, the 2020 Vintage Port is distinctly different than the 2018 and 2019 and leads with a huge amount of jammy, almost blue fruits as well as sandalwood, pepper, and Asian spices. Full-bodied, inky, and concentrated, it's much more expansive and supple on the palate, with velvety tannins and a great finish. It's certainly the inkiest colored of all the releases in this report, but it doesn't quite have the precision or structure of the 2018 and 2019. Nevertheless, if you love port and this doesn't put a smile on your face, I would be utterly shocked. It's going to develop more complexity and nuance with 4-5 years of bottle age, and I would enjoy bottles over the following 25-30 years.
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James Suckling
Lots of pure fruit with blackberries and violets. Full-bodied with firm and creamy tannins, yet plenty of grip. Long and intense. Lovely balance. Stone and crushed fruit at the end. Small production.
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Wine Enthusiast
Port has an amazingly dense texture. Its richness comes from this and from its dense power. This is a fine vintage, built to age many years with its structure and great concentration.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2020 Vintage Port is a field blend aged for 18 months in old wood vats. It was bottled April 2, 2022, and has 115 grams of residual sugar. There is almost no Touriga Franca in the blend this year, the winery saying the heat in 2020 damaged the grapes. The rest works well, but it's a bit different. This is sexier and softer than the typical Noval, utterly delicious, sweeter and ripe. The tannic backbone is far less impressive, but there is some. As always, the color is dramatic, a dark purple. This probably won't be the Noval with the highest upside or the longest life, but it will certainly be one of the ones that is hardest to resist on the younger side. For the moment, let's start here. You can dive in early on this. If it has more potential, it will need to show that in the cellar.
One of the oldest port houses, Quinta do Noval is also arguably the greatest. It is unique among top port houses in that most of the ports are made from estate-grown fruit and, notably, all of the vintage Noval wines are from the single Quinta do Noval vineyard. In addition, it is difficult to elaborate on Quinta do Noval without mentioning Nacional, the legendary port made from a 6 acre parcel of ungrafted vines. When declared, only 200-300 cases of Nacional will be made, and instantly become the most sought after port in the world. Many vintages of Nacional are considered as the finest ports, and some of the finest wines, ever made.
Noval is mentioned in land registries going back to 1715, and has been sold just twice in that time, once in the late 19th century, and to its present owners in 1993. Noval has, however, a reputation for being an innovative, independent producer. Noval’s focus on its vineyard and estate ports distinguishes it, but there are numerous other areas in which it has been a pioneer:
- Noval was the first to introduce stencilled bottles in the 1920s.
- Noval pioneered the concept of Old Tawnies with an indication of age.
- In 1958, Noval was the first to introduce a late-bottled vintage (LBV).
The astonishing terraced vineyards of Noval, perched above the Douro and Pinhao rivers, are an infertile schist, and not soil as much as sheer rock. The elevation of the vineyards goes from just above river level to 1,200 feet, with density at about 2,000 vines per acre, and vines producing on average 30-35 hectoliters per hectare. The tremendous rewards of the work done at the estate over the last fifteen years are visible across the range of Noval ports, and have placed Noval a step ahead of everyone in the Douro.
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F. To learn more, see our full Port Wine Guide
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.