Portugal as a wine producing country is sometimes unfortunately overshadowed by its European neighbours, however, it has a long wine making history and the region’s popularity is growing as people start to take notice of its quality and unique character.
The country has a large array of native grape varietals which are used to produce an abundant variety of different wines. Nevertheless, the two most popular wines styles exported are from Vinho Verde and the Douro regions.
Douro is the home of Port wine, and the city of Oporto where the wine gets its name. It is one of the major rivers in Portugal, and with fertile soils around its banks, increased attention has also been given to the Douro region’s non fortified wine production in recent years. Full bodied and concentrated dry reds made from grape varieties such as Touriga Nacional, Spanish Tempranillo, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão are all worth a try.
Vinho Verde in the north of Portugal is responsible for producing effervescent, lively, and refreshing white wine that is increasingly becoming Portugal’s most famous. Perfect when served chilled on a hot day, it is known for zingy lime flavours, a sharp minerality and subtle grassiness. The wine is often a blend but will usually be predominantly based on Alvarinho grapes which gives it its unique character.
World Wine – A very soft style from a vineyard run by the Olazabal family. There is sweetness, allied with cocoa flavors and a touch of burnt coffee. There's a very attractive sweet black fig character to finish.
Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – Almost opaque in color, a very deep red and bluish reflections. Intense, full aroma of ripe fruit which brings out the flavors of grape and fig, combined with a delicious chocolate and hints of anise.
Wine Spectator – This is distinctive, with youthfully rambunctious dark currant, fig and blackberry fruit paste flavors liberally spiked with bramble, Turkish coffee and ganache notes. As the fruit pumps through the finish, a tarry spine adds a bristling, mouthwatering edge. Best from 2035 through 2055
James Suckling – This is a superb baby Noval that reminds me of the 1966. Chewy yet so polished. The light sweetness suggests an overall dialing back of the sugar content. Stemmy and lightly green. A truly classic Noval. Almost all from Pinhao. Buy.
Decanter – Dense but opening up on the nose to reveal dark chocolate intensity and a delicate leafy edge. Ripe and initially minty on the palate with lovely purity of fruit and great definition: sweet cassis with broad, ripe, grippy tannins rising in the mouth. Not as big or immediately impressive as some wines from this vintage but showing great balance and poise from start to finish. A wine for the long term. Production of 6,000 cases.
Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – The 2016 Vintage Port is a field blend, mostly Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão and Sousão, aged for 18 months in old wood. It comes in with 82 grams of residual sugar. This was in bottle for only about seven weeks when seen, but I made sure at least some of it had a lot of air. It looks super, with plenty of room to grow in the cellar. Christian Seely likes to say that this regular Noval and the Nacional are not better than one another, just different. In fact, I usually prefer Nacional, but in this vintage I make a case for equality and endorse that view.
Wine Enthusiast – Brilliant golden / brown colour with a fresh nutty aroma and delicate subdued fruit. Medium sweet on the palate, interacting perfectly with the spirit which in turn gives a superb structure to the wine.
Robert Parker/Wine Advocate – The 2017 Touriga Nacional, bottled only about a week before this tasting, was aged for 16 months in 30% new French barriques and comes in at 14.5% alcohol. Big, big fruit starts this off—a hallmark of Vallado's 2017s. Ripe, succulent and expressive, a hint of beef and blue fruits on the palate mingle on the finish after an aromatic start. You expect the aromatics, but the intensity of flavor is a bonus, granting that this is very young and exuberant. Underneath, this shows off some structure too, although the tannins are very ripe. The mid-palate has admirable finesse. This will be a pleasure to drink, not just admire. It could use a couple of years in the cellar, but it is approachable if it does not close down. Winemaker Xito Olazabal said it should hold more than 20 years. It might well.
All wines over $25 per bottle will be vintage specific. In the case the listed vintage is out of stock, we will inform you via email for approval to go ahead.
Delivery Times
To be able to supply such a unique & extensive range of boutique wines, we don't hold much of the inventory. So with us, there is the added step of receiving the wine from our local suppliers before it is dispatched to you. Most orders are dispatched within 5-10 working days.
Quality Guarantee
Replacement or refund offered if bottles are faulty or damaged. All our deliveries are insured against loss, however you must notify us in a reasonable amount of time.
Sending a Gift
If you would like to include a gift message with your order, please enter that in the order instructions section. We'll print your message in a lovely font on A5 paper. We also won't include the invoice. Tracking will be sent to the email on file.
All wines over $25 per bottle will be vintage specific. In the case the listed vintage is out of stock, we will inform you via email for approval to go ahead.
To be able to supply such a unique & extensive range of boutique wines, we don't hold much of the inventory. So with us, there is the added step of receiving the wine from our local suppliers before it is dispatched to you. Most orders are dispatched within 5-10 working days.
Replacement or refund offered if bottles are faulty or damaged. All our deliveries are insured against loss, however you must notify us in a reasonable amount of time.
If you would like to include a gift message with your order, please enter that in the order instructions section. We'll print your message in a lovely font on A5 paper. We also won't include the invoice. Tracking will be sent to the email on file.
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