2020 Quinta do Noval Nacional
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Tasting notes
As with the base Noval, the 2020 Vintage Port Nacional is much more about opulence, power, and richness than complexity and elegance, but, hey, there's a case for many styles. Certainly, the Nacional brings more precision and focus, and this full-bodied, well-balanced beauty has everything you could want in a top Port. Red and black plums, candied black olives, tobacco, roasted herbs, cassis, and violets all define the nose, and it develops a wonderfully nuanced bouquet with air and certainly doesn't lack complexity. Again, 2003 comes to mind when tasting both of the 2020s from Quinta do Noval. The wines are ripe, sexy, yet also pure, beautifully balanced, and incredibly impressive. The tannins are present (yet almost hidden by a wealth of fruit), and I wouldn't be surprised to see this tighten up with 2-4 years of bottle age. Ideally, this will be given a decade of bottle age and enjoyed any time over the coming 30-40 years.
Critic scores
Average Score
Neal Martin
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2020 Nacional was picked from 1 to 22 September, a relatively short harvest. It has a magnificent, exquisitely defined bouquet with a purity that bowls you over, perhaps even more intense than the 2019 Nacional tasted alongside. The palate is extraordinarily pure and intense, slightly viscous in texture, with layers of cassis, black cherries, blood orange and a dab of spice. Seamless on the finish. This is a worthy follow-up to the stellar 2019 Nacional. The two will fight between themselves for supremacy. Tasted at the Quinta do Noval tasting at Spring restaurant in London.
The 2020 Vintage Port Nacional is a field blend, mostly Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão, Sousão and Tinta Roriz, aged for 18 months in old wood. It was bottled April 2, 2022, with 113 grams of residual sugar and 19.2% alcohol. Like its regular Vintage sibling in this report, this is on the sweeter side for Noval, although still well in normal range. This is pretty fine, but also like its sibling, probably not a true classic, considering the grandeur of this brand. And like its sibling, it also is simply delicious and irresistible, easy to drink on the younger side, for Noval. This does have more of a backbone than the regular bottling, though, and more upside potential in the cellar. With air, it quickly showed off the great fruit, tinged with a bit of red berries and eucalyptus. This is still a pretty fine Nacional, although not a great one, and it should develop well.