The maverick declares
Dirk Niepoort likes to reminisce about the time, earlier in his port-making career, when the great American winemaker Robert Mondavi came to taste. Mondavi kept saying the ports were great, Dirk kept saying thank you. Mondavi only got more and more irritated as Dirk failed to appreciate just how great Mondavi thought these ports were. All great sweet wines should taste sweet, said Mondavi, but finish dry to leave you wanting more. Your wines are sweet but then a great broom of acidity, tannin and alcohol comes and sweeps away the sweetness at the end. Young man, do you understand what I am saying?
There have been relatively few 2019 port declarations, but the maverick Dirk judged the long, cool summer season ideal for the elegant, balanced style Niepoort aspires to. It allowed the grapes time to reach full maturity whilst maintaining freshness and balance, leading to a silky, perfumed port. 2019 Niepoort has a deep, fleshy core of fruit, a lifted floral character, and complex notes of savoury spice on the finish – not to mention Mr Mondavi’s great broom.
This poised elegance of 2019 Niepoort is very much in keeping with the house style, a style refined by Dirk Niepoort but developed over five generations of both Niepoorts and Master Blenders. It is a style that has stood the test of time; Dirk loves to point out how in the really long-distance tastings of very old ports, it is Niepoort that breaks away from the pack and excels. /NT
'From a warmer, riper vintage than 2017, but this is Niepoort, and so it still has freshness. Deep in colour, this has amazing concentration. Floral, ripe-but-not-overripe nose with fresh fruit aromas. On the palate, great focus with fresh raspberry and cherry fruit, as well as some blackberry. Compact and refined. There’s lovely tannin here and a dry-ish finish, even though it is sweet. Lovely stuff: so refined, with ripeness but also restraint and precision. A Burgundian Port. 98 points' - Dr Jamie Goode, wineanorak.com, April 2021
Offered subject to remaining unsold; for shipment Autumn 2021
