Quinta do Noval Vintage 2015

Quinta do Noval Vintage Port is characterized by its purity of fruit and a fine and delicate quality that is typical of the estate's wines in general, but which finds its most notable and lasting expression in Vintage Ports. Balance, harmony, finesse and elegance are the hallmarks of our great Vintage Ports, which are declared only when we believe that the year has produced a blend, albeit small, but worthy of Noval's seal. Quinta do Noval follows its own path with regard to Vintage Port Wine. If we believe we have wines with the quality and personality of the Quinta do Noval Vintage Ports of previous years, we do not hesitate to declare and bottle them, even if that means doing it in consecutive years and, even if that means, as is often the case, bottling just a few hundred cases of Quinta do Noval Vintage Port, which
they only represent a tiny percentage of the farm's total production.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE 2015 HARVEST
The winter was cold and dry. Spring (March-June) was very hot, with five heat waves and heavy rains that compensated for the lack of water in the soil, allowing the vines and grapes to develop well. The summer was very hot and dry. The vines responded well to this period thanks to the reserves of water in the soil and at the end of August, cooler than usual, the harvest was exceptionally beautiful. We started the harvest on the 2nd of September in our earliest plots. It was hot weather and glorious sunshine, excellent for maturation, but that was interrupted by the rains from the 13th to the 16th, by which time about a third of our production had already been harvested. Given the very favorable weather forecasts, after a few days of interruption, the harvest resumed on the 24th of September with excellent weather conditions and with the grapes in excellent health, improving day by day, which allowed us to harvest our best plots at the best time. . During this period wines of exceptional quality were produced. The red Ports proved to be very promising from the moment the grapes were crushed in the press, immediately showing a deep colour. The 2015 Vintage, which results from a rigorous selection of the best wines of the year, which only represent 9% of the Quinta do Noval harvest, has a great aromatic intensity and purity of fruit. On the nose it shows a complex aroma with hints of spices, black pepper; great freshness and balance in the mouth supported by a strong tannic structure. Powerful, deep and long, it should evolve into a classic Quinta do Noval Vintage.

VINIFICATION
The grapes are trodden by foot in the presses to obtain the must, and then macerated during fermentation to obtain the best possible extraction.