Quinta do Noval Port
An estate on the banks of the Pinhão river has been making port since 1715. Quinta do Noval is one of the most respected names in the Douro Valley - the house behind the legendary 1931 vintage. |
About Quinta do Noval Port
Quinta do Noval is one of the oldest and most celebrated port houses in the Douro Valley. The estate was rebuilt from the ground up after the phylloxera disaster of the late 1800s, and has since become known for several firsts in modern port classification - including the first Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) in 1958. The house also owns the legendary Nacional vineyard, whose ungrafted vines were never touched by phylloxera and today produce some of the world's most expensive port.
History & Background
The name Quinta do Noval first appears in land registries in 1715. After phylloxera devastated much of the vineyards, Portuguese port shipper António José da Silva bought the estate in 1894 and replanted it from scratch. The house truly made its name with the celebrated 1931 vintage - a year most other shippers skipped due to the Depression, but one that cemented Quinta do Noval's place among the greats of the port world. Since 1993, the estate has been part of the international wine group AXA Millésimes.
Production & Style
The vineyards sit on steep schist terraces above the Douro and Pinhão rivers, at a density of around 2,000 vines per acre. In 1997, a new bottling line and warehouse was completed in Alijó, making Quinta do Noval the first of the traditional port shippers to centralise its entire production in the Douro Valley itself.
Signature Style
Powerful, Fruit-forward, Elegant
The flavour offers dark berries, fig and a touch of spice, carried on a firm, mineral structure typical of the Douro Valley's schist soil.
Facts
| House | Quinta do Noval |
| Established | 1715 |
| Region | Douro Valley, Pinhão |
| Country | Portugal |
| Owner | AXA Millésimes |
| Pronounced | KIN-ta du no-VAL |
| Grape varieties | Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão |
| Hectares | Approx. 145 hectares, including the famous 2.5-hectare Nacional plot of ungrafted vines |
| Official website | quintadonoval.com |
Did You Know?
Quinta do Noval's Nacional vineyard consists of ungrafted vines that have never been touched by the phylloxera louse - something exceptionally rare in European viticulture today.

