The line of Ports going back to VV Niepoort
based mainly on 1863
Following on from the very good Port tasting we were privileged to enjoy on Friday with Tania Oliveira we had another remarkable Port tasting on Saturday at Niepoort's Quinta de Nápoles, a little upstream on the Douro from Regua. This was brilliantly tutored by Bento Amaral, the director of technical services and certification for the Instituto dos Vinhos do Douro e do Porto (IVDP).
Before the tasting we had a walk through the vineyards of Nápoles, which counts 115 different grape varieties. We also had the first session of the #winelover 1st Symposium (#IWS16).
The line-up of Ports
Niepoort VV
The tasting (includes climate etc. comments from Bento Amaral)
Bento Amaral commented at the end of the tasting that all of these wines are great, as indeed they were – such a privilege to taste them especially with a fascinating commentary from Bento, who wears his knowledge so lightly and humbly.
Many thanks to André Ribeirinho for organising this tasting and to Dirk Niepoort for hosting the event at Quinta de Nápoles, even though this is the middle of the harvest. In addition he very generously opened some large format bottles over lunch including a stunning demijohn of 1948.
Ramos Pinto Vintage 1982
Very dry winter and summer. Mid red colour, cherry nose, soft, cherry
texture, still some spirit, split vintage by declaration with some houses opting instead for 1983.
Quinta do Noval 2011
Classically good year. For some people best year ever - eg
Symington.
Youthful purple colour, slightly fishy smell,
dense, quite noticeable tannins, but softness there. Length and texture. 'Very
extracted Ports'. Main grape varieties used Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca and Tinta Roriz.
Quevedo 30-year-old white tawny Port
Mid-golden colour, floral, lightly nutty, lovely
texture, dried apricot, length and delicacy. Citric notes. Very attractive. Just 1000 bottles produced. 100€ for 50cl bottle.
Exports of Port from the Douro valley were banned until 8th May 1986. Prior to that all Port had to be exported from Vila Nova do Gaia and, as there was no demand for white Port at the time, growers were left with stocks of white Port, which the Port companies wouldn't buy. Oscar Quededo explained that he and his sister had recently decided to bottle a small quantity of this lovely 30-year-old white Port.
It was the accession into the EU that forced the change in the Port laws including the right to export which has allowed independent producers like Quevedo to become established in their own right.
Poças Colheita 1976
Mid-gold a little darker than white Port. Delicate, a little spirit is noticeable, length. Orange peel and charm.
Very dry winter, very hot dry summer. Light rain
in September. 23rd September saw the start of harvest.
Vasques de Carvalho 40-year-old tawny
Considerably deeper colour than 1976. Walnut
colour, spirit and spice on nose, nutty,
raisin, quite austere in the finish, lovely length of spice. Very fine.
144 grams residual sugar, 5.92 acidity. Company based in Regua.
Niepoort Colheita 1957
Deepening walnut colour, nutty, dried apricot,
some raisin character, precision and length, white pepper. Delightful! Bottled 1972.
Dirk Niepoort is convinced of the potential for tawnies and colheitas to age in
bottle whereas many in the Port trade prefer that Tawnies and Colheitas are consumed soon after they are bottled. For this reason these wines are bottled in small batches according to demand.
Kopke white tawny Port 1935
Climate: Dry winter, some frost, irregular summer. Split vintage declaration with some houses preferring to declare 1934, whole others plumped for 1935.
Bento said that the 1935s are keeping better than 1934.
Mid-walnut colour, similar in colour to Niepoort 1957. Wood
spice on nose, quite sweet initially but very soon attractive austerity comes through, citric, orange notes, lovely length of wood spice present.
Bottled last week – the opposite policy to that of Dirk.
Niepoort VV
Very deep gold, spice dominant, wood spice, rich
dried apricot character, extraordinary concentration and austerity and length,
dried fruits. 999 bottles produced with 1863 main constituent.
VV old vines. Mainly aged in Gaia. Bottled 1972. 1863 was the year phylloxera arrived in the Douro, so this VV is from pre-phylloxera vines.
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Dirk Niepoort
The remarkable 1948 – what a complex treat!
Harvest in progress at
Quinta de Nápoles
