A Symbolic Exchange of Gifts

December 2010

As is customary when Heads of State make visits, US President Barack Obama and Portuguese Head of State Anibal Cavaco Silva exchanged gifts in Lisbon, before the start of the recent NATO summit.

President Cavaco gave his counterpart a bottle of Quinta do Noval Vintage 2008, a magnificent crystal decanter designed by Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza Vieira and a set of port glasses.

The gift was a symbolic one. Quinta do Noval was one of the few great Port houses to declare a vintage in 2008. True to its independent, visionary spirit – Noval was one of the few to declare its 1931 Vintage in the middle of the Great Depression – the estate once again chose to do things very much its own way. 2008 was a small Declaration, with just 1,000 cases of wine from the very best plots at the heart of the Quinta, that everyone found quite irresistible. In total contrast with the personality of the 2007 vintage, the 2008 is a classic, Noval Vintage endowed with the great depth, finesse and elegance that are the constant characteristics of the estate’s finest wines.

For the President of the United States, 2008 was also symbolic, being the year when he took office.

In return, he gave President Cavaco Silva a copy of the very first treaty signed between Portugal and the United States, in 1840. Yet another symbol of friendship.