For The Love Of Port

Does anyone know if Noval ever produced a single quinta VP? I mean something labeled as such, for example: Taylor's does Vargellas as a SQVP.

Did Noval ever do this? Any information would be appreciated.

thanks

You know Andy I thought that was like asking who is buried in Grant's tomb. I thought because they called themselves Quinta de Noval meant they were a single quinta . Now I am not so sure. Roy must have the answer.

I know the question sounds kinda strange. But I am curious if they ever did a single quinta bottling from a different quinta. Noval does get grapes from other vineyards, hence the strange question.

Here is what I know.

Every vintage of Noval and Nacional, is a single Quinta. Though not all their products.

The law does not allow them to use Quinta do Noval as a brand if all the grapes are not coming from the sole source of Quinta do Noval vineyard. In the case that they buy/own grapes from other vineyards for another products, they'll have to label the brand as Noval simply.

As for your 2nd question or precision of your first... I am not aware of such a thing and to be honest I would say it would not be a wise thing to do. How confusing would it be for the consumer... A single quinta Vintage from a Single quinta producer. 2 Vineyards names on the same label?

There is a great deal of chance the guys at Noval did something else but probably not with their name on it.

Wouldn't the name Quinta do Noval assume a single Quinta?

I had a 1965 Noval Crusted Port last night. Wasn't a big fan at all... TN's should be out some time this week. We had it next to the Hoopers 1960 that was actually quite nice. Looked and tasted like a lesser version of Niepoort Garafeira.

Hey Andy,

I've seen a listing at Woodland Hills Wine Co for a "1983 Quinta do Noval Quinta do Marco" (catchy name :) ). I never knew what to make of this...

Marco D. wrote:Hey Andy,

I've seen a listing at Woodland Hills Wine Co for a "1983 Quinta do Noval Quinta do Marco" (catchy name :) ). I never knew what to make of this...

Marco,

That is where my question came from. Kinda strange that Noval would produce a SQ under another name. I've never heard that they did this.

Yeah... pretty strange. I've never even heard of Quinta do Marco. And the web site is of no help...
http://www.hotelquintadomarco.com/

:)

Marco D. wrote:Yeah... pretty strange. I've never even heard of Quinta do Marco. And the web site is of no help...
http://www.hotelquintadomarco.com/

:)

This webside is froma hotel in the Algarve, the hot spot in the south of Portugal.

So I found this at a wine store and picked it up. There were two bottles, but one showed signs of a couple drops of leakage. Looked like old seepage, but I passed on it. Seems Noval did do a Single Quinta VP, at least in 1983. Here is a pic of the bottle I just picked up.

FYI, prior to the Noval label becoming popular, it was very common to find A.J. da Silva (better known as Antonio José da Silva) on bottles of Port produced at we now know as Quinta do Noval.

Roy, I am familliar with the A.J. da Silva on the older labels, but have you ever seen or heard of them doing a SQVP? THis is the first time I've ever seen of it. I would love to know if Cristiano Van Zellar would be able to shed some light on how often they did this and some information abuot it.

Andy,

I'd be happy to ask him for you, if you'd like?

As far as i know, and i have already made this question, the SQVP from Noval, is Quinta do Noval.
In our Port Law,when a port is bottled with the word "Quinta" in the label is considered as a SQVP. The Noval has the Silval as the classic Port.
The Noval Port Company is the only one where the SQVP have more reputation than the Classic Vintage.



João Rico

Roy Hersh wrote:Andy,

I'd be happy to ask him for you, if you'd like?

If you could, it would be most appreciated. Thanks

Hi all,

in my book Nacional is a SQVP, because by definition the grapes come from only those few rows of Nacional vines.

Now does Silval and the non-Nacional VP contain grapes from other vineyards, not sure.

Maybe it is all single quinta.

cheers
Paul

Hey Andy,

I might see Christian Seely tomorrow. I'll try to ask him about it...

Paul_B wrote:Hi all,

in my book Nacional is a SQVP, because by definition the grapes come from only those few rows of Nacional vines.

Now does Silval and the non-Nacional VP contain grapes from other vineyards, not sure.

Maybe it is all single quinta.

cheers
Paul

Silval is not a SQVP. If it was the brand would be Quinta do Noval as the regular port is. Just the raven, LBV and some tawnies if you see Noval LBV on the label, it is not from 100% Qta do Noval vineyards. Though you'll still read bottled and shipped from Quinta do Noval as this is the named of the company.

in my book Nacional is a SQVP, because by definition the grapes come from only those few rows of Nacional vines.

Actually, if we are to get technical, which I will here ... the Quinta do Noval Nacional is actually a SINGLE VINEYARD DESIGNATED Vintage Port, not a SQVP.

This is no different than when DRC culminates grapes from their small holdings in the exalted La Tache vineyard. There are many other examples, but for Port it is actually somewhat rare to have a SINGLE VINEYARD DESIGNATED VP.

Silval, has nothing to do with Quinta do Silval which has a seperate owner. The name came BEFORE the AXA purchase (mis-reported elsewhere) in 1993. I have spoken to the owner of Q d Silval and when Cristiano van Zeller still owned Noval, he asked permission to use the Silval name and the owner of Quinta do Silval (which is NOT where the actual Silval vineyard exists) gave his tacit approval at the time. He regrets that decision to this day. He calls his own Ports, MAGALHAES, and his Douro wines with a few labels, one of which is Quinta do Silval.

The Silval vineyard though is located just across the road from Noval itself. IMO, it is not, nor will it ever be ... a SQVP.

When AXA and Seely took over Noval in 1993, making their very first Ports in 1994 (how timely!) they undertook a huge replanting and new planting regimen on the property, with block planting of specific grapes in many cases. It was not until the next generally declared vintage in 1997 where all grapes for Quinta do Noval VPs came from their own vinyards and purchased grapes were no longer used for the main Noval VP. Those "declassified" grapes wind up in other less expensive cuvees under the NOVAL label, not using the name QUINTA for that reason.

Marco D. wrote:Hey Andy,

I might see Christian Seely tomorrow. I'll try to ask him about it...

If you get the chance, I'd appreciate his feedback.