2017 Niepoort Poeirinho (Bairrada)

The 2017 Poeirinho is a Baga aged for 21 months in old 2,500-liter Austrian fuders. It comes in at 12.7% alcohol. Continuing the trend I seem to have noticed from the 2015 to the 2016 in the past, and granting that they are not all here together, this seems to be the best balanced and most refined of the reds in that trio. Perhaps it is just the vintages, perhaps the moment in time when tasted, or perhaps there is a trend to making the wine more fruit forward and accessible, more of what the winery presumably wants. If the latter, it certainly is succeeding. This, in its youth, initially seemed sensationally delicious, while the fruit obscured the structure. It seemed to drink well right off the bat and emphasized waves of fruit. That wasn`t what I expected from young Baga! That said, with aeration, the baby fat does fall away, some relatively ripe tannins come out and the underlying acidity struts its stuff a little as well. Then, it shows a little of that more classic Baga earthiness. It improved, overall, dramatically with an hour of air.
I`m glad I did not taste this too fast, and it will likely change its demeanor dramatically with a few years in the cellar as the young fruit evolves and acquires more character. There`s more going on here than seems obvious at first taste, making it a little unclear where this wine`s ceiling is, but it will certainly be interesting to see how this develops. Let`s start here. I will say this: You will never be unhappy that you bought this understated and tasty red, no matter where it winds up. Considering the old vines, the small production and the quality, the price is pretty reasonable as well. There were 5,700 bottles produced from centenarian vines. 94 points

Produced solely from the grapes of the Quinta de Baixo centenarian vineyards in the Cantanhede area, grown organically and carrying the SATIVA certification. `Poeirinho, whose name refers to the former designation of the Baga grape variety, is a tribute to the great Bairrada wines of the past, which were light in colour and low in alcohol but offered a tremendous ageing potential.` A very dry year and harvesting began 3 weeks earlier than in 2016. Fermented in open lagares and in closed tanks where it went through carbonic maceration and where it remained for 4 weeks, before completing its fermentation in wooden vats. The wine went through malolactic fermentation in the used 2,500-litre wooden vats, where it also aged for 20 months. It was bottled unfiltered. Total SO2 at bottling just 57 mg/l. Rather heavy but elegantly long-necked bottle and an impressively long cork (same bottle as for the Conciso wines from the Dão region). Lightish cherry red. Complex nose that combines red fruits and a more earthy/savoury aroma but on the day after opening it was the fruit and a light floral note that were to the fore, with just a very slight meaty savour in the background. Red plums and a little bit meaty on the palate, not excessively so but definitely a `natural` inclination. Deep, chewy – though the tannins are finely textured – and persistent. Not (yet?) as charming as the Lagar de Baixo 2015 but deeper and more substantial – surprising at only 12.5% alcohol. Hard to know how this will age but I am giving it the benefit of the doubt because of the Niepoort track record of making wines that age well. 17 points