Port anD the Douro 107somewhat run-down condition along with nearby Quinta da Casa Nova. Both properties
have since been extensively replanted and Junco is producing high quality Port.
Quinta da Cavadinha
Provezende, 5085 Pinhão
Grade a
Wine from the Rio Torto has customarily been at the heart of Warre’s Ports but in 1980 the
Symington family took the decision to buy Cavadinha high above the Pinhão valley. With a
north-easterly aspect and an altitude ranging between 120 and 450 metres, this is the last of
the Symington family’s many properties to be harvested, usually in early October. Although
much of the upper part of the quinta is planted with Tinta Barroca, the enormous height
variation ensures a balanced wine. The entire production is made on the property, the best
wines in robotic lagares. In the years when Warre’s declare a vintage, Cavadinha forms a
substantial part of the blend together with wine from Quinta do Retiro Antigo in the Rio
Torto. A single-quinta wine is produced in good intervening years. Quinta da Cavadinha
was the setting for Miguel Torga’s story A Vindima, a fact that is now recorded on a panel of
tiles on a wall at the quinta. Two neighbouring properties, Quinta do Alvito and Quinta das
Netas, have also been bought by members of the Symington family.
Quinta do Noval
5085 Pinhão
Grade a
Noval is perhaps the best example of the aphorism that you have to visit a neighbour’s quinta
to appreciate your own. Seen from Warre’s Quinta da Cavadinha on the opposite side of
the Pinhão valley, the view of Noval is certainly among the finest in the Douro. In spite of
its rather chequered history, Noval’s vineyards have always been immaculately maintained
and the whitewashed steps connecting one walled terrace to another are visible for miles
around. Since it was bought by the French insurance company AXA in 1993, nearly half
the vineyard has been replanted, largely with Touriga Nacional, but the traditional terraces
have fortunately been retained. The famous ungrafted ‘Nacional’ vineyard extends to just
two hectares and occupies three terraces above and one terrace below the main drive up to
the house which bisects the estate. The Noval estate now extends to 102 hectares (including
the neighbouring Quinta das Canadas) and Noval also have a 25-year lease on a 38-hectare
estate in the Roncão valley where they have a small quantity of Syrah. Although ‘Noval’ is
a brand that appears on wines that come from outside the quinta, the name ‘Quinta do
Noval’ is reserved for LBVs, colheitas and vintage Ports, all of which originate from the
property itself. For more information on the history and wines of this remarkable quinta,
see page 225.