Highlights: Quinta do Noval Petit Verdot 2016, Douro
Why would you plant Petit Verdot in the Douro? It’s a region that already has a host of well adapted local varieties. But Quinta do Noval, with their French connections, have planted both Petit Verdot and Syrah, and I have an open mind, and I enjoyed this wine greatly.
Quinta do Noval Petit Verdot 2016 Vinho Regional Duriense, Portugal
14% alcohol. So interesting to see how Petit Verdot does as a single varietal wine in the Douro. I wouldn’t have picked it as a potential variety for the regions, but it is a lovely wine. Very deeply coloured, this is a rich, intense, vivid red with with fresh blackberry and blackcurrant fruit, as well as some floral cherry fruit and notes of tar and spice. There’s a luxurious feel to this wine: it’s silky with a liqueur-like quality to the fruit. Bright, modern and focused. I’m not sure it automatically says ‘Douro’ to me, but it’s a lovely fresh, fruit-focused wine with real brightness and good structure and acidity. I really enjoy it now, but the structure suggests it could develop interestingly in bottle. 94/100
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