Noval Nacional 1982

[Will E]

Help please! Does anyone have any experience with Naval Nacional 82? It doesn't seem to be well favoured but I'm looking at a bottle for the holidays.The condition and provenance are perfect...but wondering if I'll ultimately be disappointed.

Any input gratefully received!

[John M.]

The condition and provenance are perfect. Then there is the price and how much of a gambler you are. Clearly at $50 you are IN, for $10,000 you are OUT--the tipping point is in the middle and only you know it. You just got to find it and proceed.

[Eric Menchen]

As you alluded, this is not highly favored. I haven't tasted the 1982. 1983 was o.k., but still very weak compared to the great Nacionals. In general, Noval was weaker 1970-1994 exclusive. Agreeing with John, $50 is a non-brainer in. For me, $500 would be a non-brainer out. Since I am a Port geek, I might take a fly at up to $200 just to say I've had it, but above that I would start to wonder.

[Andy Velebil]

Agree with others.

My cap would be maybe $100-150 just for the sake of helping a vertical tasting at some point later.

[Will E]

Appreciate the input everyone. It's not $50 and it's not $500 but feels like it would be more of a curio than anything else. Feels like better value to be had elsewhere.

[Glenn E.]

I've never been much of a fan of Nacional - even blind I rarely rate any of them above 92 or 93 points, and a lot of them are in the upper 80s for me. They're just not my style.

That said, this is not one of the good ones. For me, at least, $50 would probably be the limit and that would only be so that I could say I tried it.

[Thomas V]

I have tried it 4-5 years ago and it was not a very memorable bottle. I would look else where to send my money and don't let the "Nacional" part fool you.

The 1980's were not kind to Quinta do Noval. In 1981 their storage in Vila Nova de Gaia went up in flames along with 350.000 liters of port in vats as well as 20.000 bottles of 1978 vintage port. Also the in 1981 and 1982 the two younger brothers of Fernando Van Zeller died so he himself decided to retire in 1982. That left the estate to Luis Vasconcelos two great grand children Christiano and Teresa at ages 22 and 23 who had no prior experience in the trade. That wasn't a recipe for success. Not until AXA bought Noval in 1993 did things start to trend upwards and Christian Seely did not become director until 2000.

[Andy Velebil]

I have tried it 4-5 years ago and it was not a very memorable bottle. I would look else where to send my money and don't let the "Nacional" part fool you.

The 1980's were not kind to Quinta do Noval. In 1981 their storage in Vila Nova de Gaia went up in flames along with 350.000 liters of port in vats as well as 20.000 bottles of 1978 vintage port. Also the in 1981 and 1982 the two younger brothers of Fernando Van Zeller died so he himself decided to retire in 1982. That left the estate to Luis Vasconcelos two great grand children Christiano and Teresa at ages 22 and 23 who had no prior experience in the trade. That wasn't a recipe for success. Not until AXA bought Noval in 1993 did things start to trend upwards and Christian Seely did not become director until 2000.

Christian was the director of Noval starting in 1993, when AXA bought the property. Seely was 33 years old at the time. However, he only became a managing director of the complete wine portfolio at AXA Millesimes in 2000 when Jean-Michel Cazes had to retire at the mandatory age of 65. Interesting side note is when the Van Zeller family sold Noval, largely due to family in-fighting, AXA bought it, and Christian moved into Noval...sort of. When the Van Zeller family left Noval they took with them virtually everything that was and wasn't nailed down. That included all the toilets, light fixtures and even all the wall switches. The house as we know it now was literally a building that was not inhabitable. Christian stayed down the road at La Rosa until the property could be renovated and habitable again. Seven years later, he had to leave Noval full-time to take over for Jean-Michel Cazes.

If one does the math, and if AXA's mandatory retirement age is still 65, Christian has roughly two more years left before he has to step aside. Will be a sad day. But hopefully, that means he could spend more time at his favorite property.

[Moses Botbol]

'85 Noval is better than any of the 80's Nacional's I have tried. '85 Noval is not a top flight port for the vintage either.

[Marc J.]

The 1982 Nacional tends to be one of the weaker Nacionals. Given the choice, there are quite a few other Nacional vintages that might provide more joy on the palate.