This is austere and tannic with reserve yet polish and finesse that is hard to come by. Blackberries, blueberries and hazelnuts and some fresh currants. Full-bodied, off-dry and extremely polished and focused. Only 175 cases made. Great length. Layers of tannic power. Perfect wine again. Try in 2025.

Very deep and opaque, this shows tight-knit berry fruit on the nose. It's demure, firm and foursquare yet suave and seamless on the palate. A fresh streak of acidity with fine-grained, linear tannins leads to a powerful, structured finish. This is seemingly drier than the straight Noval 2016. Just 200 cases declared.

This is a ripe and fruity yet strucutred wine that has amazing aging potential. It offers a strongly floral element that contrasts with the tense, mineral texture and dense tannins. It is an immensely concentrated wine that will not be ready until 2029. ROGER VOSS

This is a tumble of personalities right now, with intense blackberry, plum, fig and boysenberry compote flavors lending a showy feel, while a wave of bramble, tar and dark earth notes impart muscle and heft. Shows a brooding edge, with Turkish coffee and baker’s chocolate details dominating the finish, where formidable grip keeps things grounded and riveted. Got any kids born in 2016? Best from 2035 through 2060. — J.M.

The 2016 Vintage Port "Nacional" is a field blend, mostly Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão, Sousão and Tinta Roriz, aged for 18 months in old wood. It comes in at 85 grams of residual sugar and was bottled April 13, 2018. This is plainly more intense than the regular Noval (not unusual), but that's not the most impressive feature. It is more impressive for the lifted fruit than the power. The fruit is carefully defined, precisely carved out of the mid-palate slab. The silky texture gives this a different demeanor than the regular Noval too, while the beautiful fruit has a different flavor profile. It is more red fruits than blue—it has far less Touriga Nacional, said winemaker Carlos Agrellos. It has more bright flavors like raspberries than plums. It adds that tannic pop and wonderful balance too. It is still oddly approachable—if you're a masochist, of course, and for the moment. It will be intriguing to see how this develops. It should close down pretty hard. Then, it will age gracefully for decades. Will it make people forget about that amazing nose on the regular Noval? Time will tell. No pricing was set in the USA as of this writing. - Mark Squires

(97+ points) The 2016 Naçional is a vintage that I have feted previously, though on this occasion it is eclipsed by the 2017. It does not have the same complexity and finesse as the 2017; it's tight and unyielding at the moment having shut its doors since I tasted it four years back. Yet the palate delivers the intensity that you look for, quite saline and spicy on the entry; there's a lovely marine influence at play with a mercurial and vibrant finish. It's not faultless, yet it has plenty of charm. Tasted at the Quinta do Noval tasting at Spring restaurant in London. -- Neal Martin

The two rows of vines that provide Nacional grow just above the main house at Noval, planted on their own roots in the 1920s, after the soils were treated to ward off phylloxera. It’s a mixed planting with a substantial portion of souzão and it consistently produces one of the most elegant and complex wines of the Douro. This 2016 is more concentrated than most, a year with yields of 1,300 kilos per hectare, down from the average of 1,700. Its pure fruit freshness layers scents from wild strawberries to black plums, a wide range of flavors without any spike of alcohol. The powerful tannins are more compressed than “lighter” vintages of Nacional, suggesting this wine will live well for decades.