2021 Quinta do Noval Reserva

The red Douro blend 2021 Reserva was produced with 65% Touriga Nacional, 10% Touriga Francesa and the remaining 25% the field blend planted in the property. It fermented in stainless steel and spent 10 months in French barriques, 35% of them new, with a slightly shorter élevage and with less new wood than in 2020. It's ripe without excess, with some floral notes and hints of aromatic herbs, and it has a medium to full-bodied palate with 14.5% alcohol, keeping the freshness, balance and poise. 15,750 bottles were produced. It was bottled in May 2023.

Full bottle a heavy 1,403 g. Blend of their best 60% Viosinho and 40% Gouveio picked late August. Aged for 5 months in barriques (50% new). Really exciting blend of tangy fruit and structure. Imagine lemon cough pastilles fermented with discipline. Long and serious. Might make most white burgundies taste rather dull. It certainly has a similar structure but with Douro flavours. The oak that perturbed Julia a little when she tasted it a year ago is now fully integrated. I'd love to see a more mature example of this wine. (JR)

100% estate vines planted 17 years ago. 60% Viosinho, 40% Gouveio. The wine is aged in wooden barrels for 5 months, with 50% in new French oak barrels of 225 litres. TA 7.1 g/l, pH 2.99. More obviously oaky than the Cedro do Noval but it shows in a cedar-like aroma not toasty, and the oak seems to become more obvious as the wine opens in the glass. Lime and fresh herbs. Stony/mineral. Deep and creamy texture combined with lovely freshness. Some oatmeal, and just a touch of clementine. Complex, long and crisp yet rounded and deep. Citrus tension through the middle of creamy texture. The oak seems a bit clunky on the finish, hence the minus. (JH)