For The Love Of Port

There is an auction going on not far from here with lots of Q. do Noval.
Now there are f.i. 2 OWC's with 12 bottles from the 1991 vintage for sale, one is presented as Quinta do Noval 1991, the other as Quinta do Noval, single quinta vintage port 1991.
Maybe a dumb question, but is there any difference between them or are they talking about the same wine?

Without seeing the labels, I would suspect they are the same thing. Some houses have produced VP and SQVP in the same year, but if it says "Quinta do Noval" that means it came from the quinta as per the Portuguese implementation of the EU regs. Now there are things to look for. First, Noval does make some products that are not 100% from the quinta, labeled just as "Noval," e.g. Noval Black. But I don't recall a non-quinta Noval VP. Second, there is the Silval label, which is a different product. Silval is a second label, not the same blend as Quinta do Noval VP. I would suggest it is of a lower quality, but it might be better to say that it is just an earlier maturing blend ready for drinking before the VP, kind of like Sandeman Vau. Silval is regularly much cheaper than the first label. I can get 2007 Quinta do Noval VP for $60-70 at a local store, and the 2007 Silval was under $30 the last time I bought it.

Eric Menchen wrote:Without seeing the labels, I would suspect they are the same thing. Some houses have produced VP and SQVP in the same year, but if it says "Quinta do Noval" that means it came from the quinta as per the Portuguese implementation of the EU regs. Now there are things to look for. First, Noval does make some products that are not 100% from the quinta, labeled just as "Noval," e.g. Noval Black. But I don't recall a non-quinta Noval VP. Second, there is the Silval label, which is a different product. Silval is a second label, not the same blend as Quinta do Noval VP. I would suggest it is of a lower quality, but it might be better to say that it is just an earlier maturing blend ready for drinking before the VP, kind of like Sandeman Vau. Silval is regularly much cheaper than the first label. I can get 2007 Quinta do Noval VP for $60-70 at a local store, and the 2007 Silval was under $30 the last time I bought it.

What he said

Monique Heinemans. wrote:There is an auction going on not far from here with lots of Q. do Noval.
Now there are f.i. 2 OWC's with 12 bottles from the 1991 vintage for sale, one is presented as Quinta do Noval 1991, the other as Quinta do Noval, single quinta vintage port 1991.
Maybe a dumb question, but is there any difference between them or are they talking about the same wine?

Monique, if you're interested in Noval '91, '94 or '97 and/or Noval Nacional '91, just PM me - I have a supplier for these; prices are probably just as interesting, or better than at auction. By the way, which auction are you referring to? Might be interesting for me too!

Roel.

There is also a Noval "Quinta do Silval" 1991 VP. This has prominent "Noval Single Quinta" wording at the top of the label i have seen.

I'll google to see if i can find a picture.

EDIT - here is a pic of the 1991 "Noval Single Quinta Selections" bottling.

Eric Menchen wrote:but if it says "Quinta do Noval" that means it came from the quinta as per the Portuguese implementation of the EU regs.

I don't know when they started tightening all of this up, but this may not hold true for older vintages...

Thanks all for your replies.
I believe too that the Q. do Noval 1991vintage port should be the same as the Q. do Noval, single quinta vintage port 1991, as they don't refer to the Silval, but unfortunately it's a closed case, so they show no picture of the bottles. I was just surprised they called it different and that made me wonder. But looking at the picture Rob posted I'm in doubt again. Hmm...
I've had a sixpack of the Q. do Noval 1991 and they drank very nicely over the past few years, but now I'm more interested in the VP's for the long run like the 1994, the 2000 or the 2003 Q. do Noval which are at auction too.
They actually do have some Q. do Noval, Silval too.

This auction is at DaanAuctions.com. Closing time is this evening. The pickup point is in Maastricht, less than 20 km from my home. So when the price is right I might place a bid.

Roel, I send you a PM.

And? Any luck on the auction?

No, some prices went even above retailprice.....?! Very strange.

If this is an auction, I would ask for a picture of the bottles. Noval Nacional will be present and clear on the label. There are several vintages in which Nacional and Noval were both released.