Quinta do Noval
Branco Reserva 2021
Douro Valley, Portugal
An authentic white wine with the ambitious to represent the best white wine produced in the Douro Valley. It is derived from a strict selection of the best batches of the Quinta’s various indigenous grape varieties. Rich and structured, it is outstanding for its finesse and intensity
VINEYARD
This wine is a blend of 60% Viosinho, 40% Gouveio, all coming from Quinta do Noval’s vineyard. A plot filled with garrigue flowers.
WINEMAKING
The two varieties are destemmed and lightly crushed before pressing. This wine is aged in 225-liter French oak barrels for 5 months, 50% in new barrels and 50% from barrels of two vintages, with a bâtonnage done 3 times a week.
VINTAGE
The year began with a fairly wet winter followed by mild temperatures leading into spring. These two conditions led to an early budburst in March. April provided regular rainy spells that positively replenished the soil water reserves.
Flowering occurred quite early in the beginning of May that led to expect an early harvest. July’s mild weather started to shape the character of this harvest because it contrasted completely to last year’s record setting temperatures during the same month. The mild conditions continued into August and led to a slow homogeneous ripening of the grapes and noticeably less dehydration than in 2020.
TASTING NOTES
With a brilliant color, the wine is powerful and rich with an abundance of fruit and floral aromas like the Dittrichia Viscosa that grow between the row of vines. It reveals a remarkable volume, fruitiness, crisp acidity, and mineral structure followed by a long and fresh finish.
Color
White
Grape Varieties
Gouveio, Viosinho
Appellation
Douro Valley, Portugal
Alcohol
14%
Suggested Retail Price
$75
Reviews
"Apple, quince, lemon preserves"
Wine Spectator - February 10, 2023
"A compact, medium-bodied white, with graphite, quinine and spice notes lacing poached apple and quince fruit, pastry and lemon preserves. The profile is coiled around racy acidity, keeping this focused and refreshing through to the lingering, chalk-tinged finish. Viosinho and Gouveio." A.N 2/23
"Apple, quince, lemon preserves"
James Suckling - September 14, 2023
"This is perfumed with white nectarines, white flowers, raw almonds and dried spicy herbs. Medium- to full-bodied. Solid and meaty with density to its texture. But it still remains juicy and vivid. Long and chalky finish. A blend of viosinho and gouveio." J.S. 2/23
"Elegant and understated"
Wine Advocate - September 15, 2023
"The 2021 Reserva Branco is a 60/40 blend of Viosinho and Gouveio aged for five months in 50% new French barriques. This is the debut vintage of this wine [...]. The winery certainly picked a nice white wine vintage for a debut. This is elegant and understated, tinged with some wood but also lively acidity. " M.S. 7/22
Trade Materials
Other Wines by this Producer
Douro Reserva
Douro Valley, Portugal
Very powerful and structured, it is outstanding for its finesse, a delicate character typical of the Quinta do Noval style. It is derived from a strict selection of the best batches of the Quinta's various indigenous grape varieties. This wine is delicious when young and ages well in the cellar.
Fine White Port
Douro Valley, Portugal
A white port made with traditional white grape varietals from the Douro Valley. It is a blend of wines aged between 2 and 3 years to create a wine that is fruity, fine, sweet, unctuous, with a good aromatic persistence.
Vinhas da Marka
Douro Valley
Vinhas da Marka is the very first edition of a new exciting project called ‘Terroir Series’. Every edition will focus on one specific terroir that was identified that year as exceptional. A few years ago, Quinta do Noval concluded an agreement with the Agrellos family for the long term lease of the vineyard of Quinta da Marka, which we had identified as having terroir of exceptional potential. This potential was revealed by the outstanding red wines produced in the 2019 vintage. It was so remarkable, that the Noval team has decided to release a very limited volume of that wine. Only 200 bottles was brought into the US.
Fine Ruby Port
Douro Valley, Portugal
This is a deep-colored lively, peppery wine full of fresh fruit flavors it is bottled after three years in cask. An ideal Port for informal drinking.
Late Bottled Vintage Single Vineyard Port
Douro Valley, Portugal
This wine is a remarkable example of the Noval style. Treated exactly like a Vintage Port with only noble grape varieties that sourced exclusively from estate vineyards, trodden by foot and unfiltered. This expression differs in its extended aging, seeing five years in casks instead of the typical two years for Vintage Ports. Definitely an LBV with a difference, this wine has fine structured tannins, great freshness and purity of fruit. It is delicious to drink today, but will age beautifully in its bottle.
Tawny 40 Year Old Port
Douro Valley, Portugal
Noval was the first port house to introduce blended tawnies with an indication of average age. Their eldest offering, the Noval Tawny 40 Year Old Port, is a remarkable representation of the quintessence of the Noval Tawny style: a profoundly concentrated and complex old wine, the memory of the house.
Cedro do Noval Branco
Douro Valley, Portugal
Named after the emblematic cedar tree that dominates Quinta do Noval's terrace, Cedro do Noval is an authentic expression of the Douro. It is made at Quinta do Noval using carefully selected grapes 100 % grown on the highest steeply terraced vineyards of Quinta do Noval, in the heart of the Douro Valley, in Northern Portugal.
Touriga Nacional
Douro DOC
Intense and concentrated, with fine tannic structure, Touriga Nacional is distinguished by its delicacy, a characteristic of the Quinta do Noval style. It is the product of a strict selection from the best lots produced by our Quinta in any given year.
Colheita
Douro Valley
Colheita is a Vintage Tawny Port. Wheras Tawnies with an indication of age show the house style, Vintage Tawnies show the personality of the vintage year. Colheita spends its entire life in barrel until the moment of bottling. On the nose they are fresh, powerful and fruit-forward, with balanced acidity. On the palate they have a nutty, oxidized character with a seductively smooth finish.