Winemaker Notes
This unfiltered LBV presents a deep ruby colour and has an intense and elegant aroma. It is a very rich wine presenting ripe black fruits and spices. Fine but solid tannins give the wine its structure of great amplitude and a long and flavourful aftertaste. It is made to be enjoyed as soon as it is bottled.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2013 LVB Port comes from a mix of varieties (mostly Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca) and spent five years in oak. It’s still purple/ruby-hued and delivers a beautiful bouquet of spiced plums, ripe figs, tobacco leaf, cigar, and exotic spices. These carry to a medium to full-bodied Port that has a rounded, supple texture, notable elegance, and a great finish. It’s not a powerhouse like some of these other releases, but its balance is spot on and it’s going to evolve nicely for two decades or so.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2013 Unfiltered Late Bottled Vintage Port is a field blend from typical grapes like Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão and Sousão aged for five years in casks. This traditional LBV comes in with 100 grams of sugar and a long cork. Noval is always a source for expressive and traditional LBVs that can age. The power here is more than I saw on some lesser Vintage Ports this issue. The concentration is not always as good but still admirable. The line is blurring a bit these days when you go from quality, traditional LBVs to lesser Vintage Ports. The big advantage for LBVs in those comparisons, and to me the deciding factor, is the price. They are the best values in Port. This is another terrific LBV from Noval—power, fruit, expressiveness and the ability to age.
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Wine & Spirits
We tasted this wine in a session with some pretty astonishing Porto from 2017, and it held its own, showing impressive concentration and silkiness for an LBV. In comparison to a Vintage Port, the flavors aren’t particularly long, but the black fruit is chocolatey and luscious, satisfying in its richness.
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Wine Enthusiast
Bottled unfiltered and therefore with a chance to age further, the wine has ripe red fruits that are surrounded by tannins and rich plum fruits. It has sweetness but that is balanced by the acidity of this dense wine. Drink now, but it will be better from 2021.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and rich, with a supple edge to the mix of crushed blackberry, black currant and black cherry fruit, all wrapped in gentle bittersweet chocolate, licorice snap and Christmas pudding notes. Fresh acidity drives the finish. Well done. Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Cão and Sousão. Drink now through 2027.
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.