100-points for 2011 Nacional Port

The 2011 vintage of Quinta do Noval’s ‘Nacional’ has been given 100-points by The Wine Advocate in the latest issue of the journal.

Quinta do Noval

The guide’s Portugal specialist, Tom Squires, was largely focused on the 2013 table wines from Portugal but his report also included a small selection of 29 (largely) colheita and tawny Ports dating back to the 1930s.

It was not a ‘complete’ retrospective or vertical, there was only one Port from the Fladgate Group and none from Symington Family Estates for example, the bulk of the tasting revolved around an “onslaught” of Ports from the Sogevinus group’s library stock which have recently been bottled and landed in the US.

The top-rated wine in the line-up was the 2011 Nacional which Squires described as “monumental” and a wine that “justifies its cult reputation”.

Still showing primary fruit he said it was, “just plain delicious, even while showing some austerity.”

The straight vintage 2011 from Quinta do Noval was given a solid 97-points as was the 2004 Nacional – “typically graceful and leaning on elegance” and still “too young” despite being over 10 years old already.

Squires also praised the Quinta’s “bold” decision to release both 2012 and 2013 vintages which he said was fully justified after tasting the wines; the former was given a 94-point rating and the latter 95-points.

There were some impressive results for the older Ports released by Sogevinus, particularly the tawny Ports from Kopke.

The “gorgeous” 1941 Kopke Colheita Tawny received 97-points, the 1966 96-points, the 1965 ‘Special Edition’ and the 1957 95-points and the 1978 94-points.

The oldest Port in the tasting, Kopke’s 1935 white colheita gained 93-points while the comparatively more recent 2003 garnered 91.