Noval House Reserve

Nikolaj Winther · Post by **Nikolaj Winther** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 6:14 am

Can anyone tell me something abut this wine?

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:08 am

It appears to be a 1941 Colheita. I would like to see the back to see if there is a bottling date on it. Which is probably some time ago based on the bottle. Although there is a relatively new selo de guarante and silver capsule on it, which is interesting.

If my history of Noval is correct (and it may not be) they havn't used the "AJS" logo'd bottles since the early 1960's (or late 50's??). So I would guess it was bottled a long time ago. But someone obviously put a new Selo and capsule on it, which strikes me as odd. I don't see Noval releasing old stocks of this, as they lost a bunch of wine in the fire at their lodge in Gaia back in 1981.

The "AJS" on the bottle is for Antnio Jose da Silva, who bought Noval in the early 1890's after Phylloxera damaged the property. Silva was the one who started the infamous "Nacional" section of the vineyard. His son then took over for several decades, then it was passed down to the Van Zellars who took over running it until it was sold to its present owners, the AXA corporation, in 1993.

Nikolaj Winther · Post by **Nikolaj Winther** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 6:14 am

Now that you mention the seal - it may be pristine, but it isn't new (although I don't know how to read them). It says AO 097793 3. The AO indicates that it's old (if the "A"'s were used before the "B"'s).

Also, on the back of the neck - you can just make it out, there's a seal (bandarole?) that looks like older danish tax/customs-lable, indicating that the bottle has been in the country for some years.

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 7:36 am

The part of the little circle that is visible through the glass on the back is probably the other 1/2 of the Selo de Guarante. Both sides of the Selo have a little round circle.

FYI, The seal (or Selo) don't have any numerical order and there is no way to "read" them or figure them out. When a producers applies the Selo's they then report to the IVDP what numbers went on what bottles.

So, say a producer did a bottling run of a 10 yr tawny today, then another bottling run of the same 10 yr tawny one month later, the Selo's can be totally different numbering.

Is it possible to find out what is on the back of the bottle (label, bottling date, etc ?)