Die nun folgende kleine Port- und Weinkunde stammt direkt von der Web-Site www.niepoort-vinhos.com/

Vintage Port must be bottled within two years of the harvest date and be 100 per cent wine from that harvest.

The magic of Vintage port is different in every phase: as a young wine it captures the youthful fruit characters, then after  20 years or more the effects of the slow bottle age integration are revealed and finally after many decades the spirit dominates the wine. Vintage Port is amazing in all the three phases.

Maturation in the bottle is more reductive than cask ageing and the wine that results has a fruitiness and power which develops in the traditional ageing vessel, the classic, thick, black port bottle.

Serve at the end of a meal with cheese, especially blue cheese which goes really well. Please note that Vintage Port needs decanting.

Niepoort created a second style of vintage port: “Secundum Vintage”. The Secundum’s intention is the creation of an approachable Vintage that offers immediate satisfaction yet keeping the balance to age for decades. If we compare the Niepoorts Vintage Port with classic music then Secundum would be like Mozart, young, charming, creative and tangible and the Vintage like Bach: intense, profound, complex and less accessible.

Secundum was produced in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2003.

The so-called garrafeiras are a speciality of Niepoort. These ports from a single year age for decades, not in wood but in special small glass containers "demijons" (7 to 11 litre glass balloons in the form of old apothecaries’ bottles). Demijon  bottles are no longer produced today and therefore at Niepoort the 18th century demijons  are used and re-used. This type of ageing adds a unique character derived from prolonged direct contact with the glass demijons .

The Niepoorts’ garrafeira cellar is secluded from the bustle of the town, filled with tranquility and tradition, and inspires respect for the longevity of the wines.

Late Bottled Vintage port is a from a single year. The wine ages 4-6 years in old oak casks (opposed to Vintage that ages 2-3). LBV fills the gap between the rubies and the vintage ports since a Ruby Port should be drunk quite young and a great Vintage Port may need 15 to 20 years to really open up and show its splendour. This led to the idea in the 1960s to age the wine 4 to 6 years in large casks before bottling it, thereby producing a wine with the style of a Vintage Port with its deep colour and concentration of fruit but with a more mature character caused by the longer ageing in wood.

Late botted vintage is the perfect port to accompany chocolate desserts, specially if dark/bitter chocolate is used!

Colheitas are dated tawnies aged in cask. The  minimum age requirement is 7 years, but the tradition at Niepoort is to age several more years in the casks before bottling. The wine takes on a tawny hue. Wood and nutty tones are evident on the palate due to the wine’s slow ageing in old casks.

After the meal Colheita combines well with Crème caramel, and especially with deserts that contain dried fruits or nuts. As a starter the combination with foie gras is impressive.

Note that Colheita Port does not need decanting.

Niepoort produced: 1934, 1976, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1994 and 1995.

After dinner,  old tawny is a good match with cheeses and especially chocolate based desserts. It can also be drunk as an aperitif, serve at room temperature or lightly chilled. Niepoort produces 10, 20 and 30 years old Tawny.  The skilful ageing and  blending of the different tawny ports is the art of master blender José Nogueira.

Júnior Tinto and Sénior Tawny, considered by Dirk Niepoort a starting point into port wines.

The Junior Tinto under-goes an early filling, and spends the rest of its time in the bottle, where it is protected against outside influences. Through this, its youth, dark colour, freshness and dark fruit aromas and flavours are optimally maintained. With its concentrated tannins, this is a full -bodied wine.

The Senior Tawny, however spends most of its time ageing in barrels. through the pores of the wood, it’s contact with air is soft and light, which results in a slow oxidation process over the years. This is an elegant port with a subtle expression – a light colour and a range of flavours and aromas that are based on red fruit tones.

Tawny port keeps well for several years, although the wine will not improve with age. It contains no sediment and need not be decanted.

Niepoort Ruby is fresh, young and fruity (lot's of red cherries and red fruits!). An expressive port with great character. Ruby keeps well for several years, although the wine will not improve with age. No decanting is necessary since the wine contains no sediment.

Niepoort Dry White is made in the tradicional style with long skin maceration. The final  blend includes different  wines aged in oak casks making an average of 3,5 years.

Dry White is lovely if served chilled as an aperitif or as a long drink with Tonic Water ice and a twist of lemon.

Quelle / Infos und Bilder: www.niepoort-vinhos.com/NiepoortPortWines.html

Aber im Hause Niepoort entstehen nicht nur großartige Portweine sondern auch ganz ausgezeichnete Weine:
 

Batuta was first released in 1999. The goal was to produce an impressive Douro wine and the name Batuta was the perfect name (stands for the baton an orchestral conductor uses) .

The fruit comes from Quinta do Carril a north facing vineyard, with more than 70 years, near Quinta de Napoles and two vineyards at 750 meters over 100 years olds. Batuta is a perfect blend: powerfull yet elegant and with great harmony. A wine with great ageing potencial.

Batuta was produced in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003 and 2004.

Charme is all about elegance and balance, achieved by taking special attention to the smallest details during all the wine making process. Charme is made in traditional stone lagares with 100% stems. The Elegance is acheived using grapes from very old vineyards in the Vale Mendiz area on the banks of the Pinhão river

Charme was produced in 2002 and 2004.

Redoma was the first douro table wine from Niepoort and the first release was back in 1991. Redoma is like the Douro "extreme and with a rigorous character". Old north facing vineyards from Quinta de Napoles and Pinhão Valley are the base for Redoma. The main varieties are Tinta Amarela, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Franca.

Produced in:  1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

This is the new wine in the Niepoort red wine wine family. The wine is fresh, very mineral and expressive and approachable in its youth. Vertente is a pleasant drink with balanced power and elegance.

Produced in:  2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Inspired by an old idea of his father, Dirk associated with Alvaro de Castro in order to make the “perfect wine”. The innovative approach is the union of two different wine regions Dão and Douro. The combination of the different characteristics of the vines creates an impressive wine with the freshness and elegance of Dão and the concentration and fine tannins of Douro.
The first Dado was born in 2000, a blend of 50% Dão wine from Quinta da Pellada and 50% Douro from Quinta do Carril. Making the wine was actually the easiest part of the process. The challenge was to overcome all the legal problems related to the label approval. As a table wine the label could not mention: regions involved , year of harvest, year of bottling, or the history of the wine…
The result is lovely, perfumed, raspberry fruit aromas, with richness and freshness on the palate. Tannins are firm, acidity bright, and there’s a creamy feel to the whole.

For legal reasons the wine is only available in Portugal.

Dado was produced in 2000, 2001 and 2003.

The idea behind Fabelhaft was the creation of a pleasant, easy drinking red wine yet keeping complexity, mineral notes and great depth like the classic Douro wines. The  wine name (fabulous) and the Wilhelm Busch storyboard emphasize the dual nature: easy drinking although complex and with great depth. Fabelhaft 2004 was bottled in March 2006.

For legal reasons the wine is only available in countries of german speaking language.

Fabelhaft was produced in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

Redoma Branco comes from small and very old vineyards, with many different varieties, the most important are: Rabigato, Codega, Donzelinho, Viosinho and Arinto.
These vineyards are planted at high altitudes, between 400 and 700 metres, on the right side of Douro river. The final result it’s an impressive wine, fresh and mineral but showing also concentration and complexity.

Produced in  1995, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

The vineyards for the Redoma White are all above 400 metres, up to 800 metres, thus having a cooler (particularly at night) and longer ripening, all vineyards are over 60 years old, 3 of them being particularly old (over 100 years old).

The main variety is rabigato, having a high portion of Codega and some other varieties. It has no malvazia fina.

Produced in 1995, 1996 ,1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Chardonnay and Riesling are coming from a twenty year old vineyard planted at 750 metres of altitude. While Chardonnay is fermented and aged for 8-9 months in oak casks, the Riesling is slowly fermented in stainless steel vats along with fine lees.
The late harvest 2003 is a combination of 25% dried Malvasia Fina, 50% old vines with Botrytis and 25% Riesling that were selected berry by berry on the sorting table.

Partially fermented in new French oak casks and totally aged in stainless steel vat until bottling in April 2004.

Niepoort launched the first Rosé, thus proving that high-quality wines may also be coloured pink.
Redoma is fermented in new French oak casks after free run juice from traditional stone lagares, in opposite to the typical winemaking of Rosé wine. Complexity is obtained by a long (several hours) skin contact.

Produced in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005.

Quelle / Infos und Bilder: www.niepoort-vinhos.com/NiepoortWines.html
 

Fifth generation: Eduard Dirk Niepoort

The fifth generation, Eduard Dirk Niepoort is ahead of the business, since the formal retirement of Eduard Rudolph Niepoort in 2005.

Dirk, born in 1964, discovered the world of wine during the studies in Switzerland. In 1987 Dirk joined his father Rolf Niepoort in the family business and was challenged to innovate maintaining the good traditions. The first important step was the acquisition of the first own vineyards: Quinta de Nápoles and Quinta do Carril in Cima Corgo, a region that traditionally produces the best Port Wines.

15 hectares of vineyards were newly planted, and 10 hectares 60-year old vines were kept carefully maintained. Owning Quintas and vineyards in the Douro was an important step in the port wine and the first step for the creation of Niepoort wines. Nevertheless the tradition of buying the annual harvests of selected Douro producers is still an important source.

With the 1991 vintage, Niepoort released the first red table wine, named Redoma. White Redoma (1995) made its market debut in 1997.

Niepoort also bought a Cellar in Vale Mendiz in the Douro allowing to concentrate the harvest for port wine at this location, while Quinta de Napóles focuses on the table wines.

The ageing, storing and blending of the wines continues to take place in the Niepoorts’ cellar in Villa Nova de Gaia.

Quelle: www.niepoort-vinhos.com/History.html

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