Intense aromas of black fruits with blueberries, lead pencil and graphite. Wet earth as well. Full-bodied and layered with very fine tannins and a juicy and savory finish. There is such polish and beauty to this. Reminds me of the 1967. Best after 2030.

The 2020 Vintage Port is a field blend aged for 18 months in old wood vats. It was bottled April 2, 2022, and has 115 grams of residual sugar. There is almost no Touriga Franca in the blend this year, the winery saying the heat in 2020 damaged the grapes. The rest works well, but it's a bit different. This is sexier and softer than the typical Noval, utterly delicious, sweeter and ripe. The tannic backbone is far less impressive, but there is some. As always, the color is dramatic, a dark purple. This probably won't be the Noval with the highest upside or the longest life, but it will certainly be one of the ones that is hardest to resist on the younger side. For the moment, let's start here. You can dive in early on this. If it has more potential, it will need to show that in the cellar.

The 2019 Vintage Port is a field blend aged for 18 months in old wood vats. It was bottled May 4, 2021, and has 100 grams of residual sugar. It was in bottle only a bit more than two months when tasted, but it seems quite brilliant, even so. Very concentrated, it adds controlled power and coats the palate. Tasted with some other 2019s, this certainly stood out for both concentration and power. It touches all the bases in terms of expressive fruit and structure, finishing dry and seriously. It seemed balanced enough to drink young, but that would be a mistake. For one thing, it steadily tightened as it aired out. It also increasingly showed gorgeous eucalyptus-laced aromatics. Two days later, it was notably more astringent. Four days later, it was very firm on the finish and better overall. In fact, that was a far better showing than on day one. This is plainly built for the long haul. I would expect nothing less from a fine Noval Vintage Port. It became more focused and precise as well. This needs the rest of this decade, at least, in the cellar to show better. Then it will develop well for decades and hold indefinitely. Frankly, it won't show everything it has in even 10 years, where I have the "start drinking" window, so if you have a lot more patience, that would be useful. It will be more interesting around 2035-2040. This is a powerful beauty, well justifying Noval's tendency to declare most every year.

The 2018 Vintage Port is a field blend aged for 18 months in old wood vats. It comes in with 100 grams of residual sugar. This was bottled May 13, 2020. Simply gorgeous, this is aromatic, chock-full of flavor and wholly delicious—but that's just the starting point. It has a serious backbone too, perfectly countered by the mid-palate depth. More than lovely, it might well be my favorite of the 2018s I've seen thus far, if I were forced to pick just one. It is surprisingly accessible, in a way, but that's because the mid-palate soaks up the power. It was certainly still vibrant days later. It should age well, but let's be just a little conservative now in evaluation and drinking windows.

The 2017 Vintage Port is a field blend, mostly Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto C?o and Sous?o, aged for 18 months in old wood vats. It comes in with 99 grams of residual sugar. This was bottled in May 2019, about a month before tasting, but I made sure at least some of it had a lot of air. Aromatic, wonderfully fragrant and laced with eucalyptus, this then shows typical Noval focus and power. A couple of hours in a glass simply increased the power. More intense than the very fine 2016, it grips the palate and shows rather significant astringency. As wonderfully aromatic as this is, there the 2016 might have the edge. Too closed and muscular once past the aromatics, this rather dry Port needs some time. It is harder to read than the 2016 was, but this should overtake it in time. Have some patience with this one.