The 2019 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 May 4, 2021, with 100 grams of residual sugar and 19.4% alcohol. This opened rather differently than the regular Noval Port this report, showing more open and expressive fruit, more cherries and even more power as they both aired out. The aromatics are excellent here too, but more fruit driven. When I came back to both some two days later, this brilliant and graceful Nacional made the wonderful regular Noval seem clumsy. It's the difference in styles, really, and reasonable minds might differ in preference, but this Nacional has more precision and more finesse. It is brighter and laser-like focused with an expression of fruit that seems so pure that you can almost think they used a spoon to fill the bottle after just crushing the grapes. The regular Noval, by contrast, seems rounder, more full-bodied and richer, albeit less defined. They both have a fair share of power. On first taste, the regular Noval seemed less powerful. Two days later, it seemed more powerful, but the Nacional fruit was always more interesting and far more intense in its character. Three days later, there was certainly still plenty of firmness on the Nacional finish. If the structure is excellent, the fruit is sensational. Three days after opening, the fruit had not budged an inch, showing nothing but exuberance and youth. The juicy finish of this very fresh Porto seals the deal. True, it was in bottle only about two months or so when tasted, but its quality is not in question. If you want a collectible and can afford it, this is the easy pick. If neither of those is true, the regular Noval offers way more bang for the buck. Both have significant aging potential. As promising as the regular Noval is, however, this seems to have a lot more upside as well as a lot more "wow" factor. I have given this wine a drinking window that begins in about 10 years, but of course, that is a minimum for this as well as the regular Noval. These days, Ports are more refined, so you can theoretically start sooner, most of the time. In truth, it will need 20 years before it is firing on all cylinders. Purists will suggest longer.

Again, picked on just one day (9th October) and foot-trodden in one small lagar. Not quite as deep and dense as the 2020 but closed in and introverted on the nose with characteristic underlying power and intensity. Ripe black cherry fruit with seamlessly integrated solid, ripe tannins. Lithe with less flesh and a bit leaner than the 2020 but very much all there with a long, fine sinewy finish

Full bottle 1,354 g. Small vineyard of ungrafted vines within the Noval estate. A blend of Touriga Francesa, Tinto Cão, Touriga Nacional, Sousão and Tinta Roriz. Grapes are trodden by foot to obtain the must, then during fermentation macerate to obtain the best possible extraction in the lagares. Aged 18 months in wood. RS 100 g/l. Black to the rim – there is virtually no rim! Aroma is completely different from the Quinta do Noval 2019. This is more open, with blueberry and vanilla. On the palate, the tannins are firmer and offer more resistance but still smoothed in texture. There's a dark, savoury, almost charry quality on the palate but it's more texture than flavour. Outstanding length like a long plateau of deep consistency which will need time to take on a more specific shape. Sip slowly. (JH)

Pure perfection in Port, the 2019 Vintage Port Nacional is riveting stuff in every sense, and I certainly can't imagine it being any better. Coming from a single parcel of older vines and a field blend (it's primarily Touriga Nacional) brought up in older wood, it's one of those ports that brings incredible intensity, richness, and power while somehow staying perfectly balanced, pure, and light on its feet, with its fruit, alcohol, and structure just flawlessly integrated. It's also incredibly complex, even at this young stage, offering red, blue, and black fruits as well as sandalwood, Asian spice, dried flowers, iron, black olive, and graphite on the nose. While the base Noval closed down quite quickly, this showed consistently over the three days I had the bottles open, never showing any sign of fatigue or oxidation, and given its incredible balance, it was the wine I chose to pour a small glass of each evening as well. While the 2020 is all about power and richness, this is an utterly complex, compelling, insanely good Port that I wish I could pour for every reader. While it offers ample pleasure today (count me in the group that enjoys young Port), I would hide any bottles I might have for at least 7-8 years, and it should have 50, 60, 70 years of longevity? This beauty will unquestionably outlive most of us today.