Loved by Jamie Matthewson, Partner & wine buying manager – fortified & sweet wines
Almost all port is aged in the Portuguese city of Porto – in truth, in the area across the river called Vila Nova de Gaia. Not so with Noval. This bodega ages its port in the drier climate of the Douro valley, in cellars cut into the cliffs where it’s cooler than the often 40-degree heat outside. The real delight of Noval is simply wandering around the vineyards, in and out of various different aged vines and the many different indigenous grape varieties. You can see how hard the vines have to work, high up on the steep banks of the valley, and it’s this fortitude that gives the grapes such big tannins and, therefore, structure for port wines (which are not shrinking violets!).