Quinta do Noval Cedro do Noval Branco 2018 (90 WA)

“The 2018 Cedro do Noval Branco is an equal blend of Viosinho and Gouveio partly (80%) aged for six months in French oak. It comes in at 13% alcohol. The wood is a little evident, but this won’t show in the marketplace until next year, at which point, the wood should be better integrated—if not eviscerated by the acidity. This is a more aggressive and intense wine—a more serious one—than last year’s, which was the debut vintage. This is a nice leap forward. It’s not dense, but it has fine concentration for the level. More impressively, there’s both intensity and freshness. We’ll see what it looks like when it is released, but this has suddenly become fairly serious.”