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NIEPOORT

2017

Origin Portugal, Port
District Vintage Port
ABV 18%

'I get a bit emotional about this wine,' says Dirk Niepoort. He says it's definitely the best vintage he's produced here, though he admits with a smile that no one will believe him any more because he said that about the 2015 and 2011. This 2017 is hugely concentrated and densely tannic but there's no impression of heaviness or excess heat. The tannins are perfectly ripe and there's that characteristic Niepoort acidity running through it. Dirk says the cooler nights were key in retaining this balancing freshness, otherwise the wines would have been too jammy. Dirk's masterstroke was including 150 litres of specially selected press wines in the final blend. It's made for a dramatic and generous port with so much pure dark fruit that it's a delicious drink already but, as Dirk says, 'this will age forever.' A sample of the beautifully fresh 1942 tasted earlier suggests he may be right. L&S (May 2019)


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The 2017 Vintage Port was picked early to obtain optimal ripeness, commencing 24 August and finished 26 September. Yields are some 30% below the previous year. The fruit was foot-trodden in granite lagares and matured in large barrels in Vila Nova de Gaia. It has a refulgent purple colour. The nose is explosive, a heady cornucopia of blueberry, black cherries and crème de cassis, later just a touch of lavender. There is no holding back on these aromatics. The palate follows suit with sumptuous black fruit, quite tannic but simultaneously rounded and lavish/velvety in texture. Touches of fresh fig and raisin appear towards the finish. Drop dead gorgeous. Drinking range: 2030 - 2080 Rating: 96 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2019)

Black cherry colour with narrow purple rim. Gorgeous pure hedgerow black fruit and no sense of the alcohol on the nose – it has been completely integrated with the fruit already. Ripe blackberry, elderberry and blackcurrant and a touch of spice, wild fruit. Incredibly intense on the palate but not showy and the tannins make it taste almost dry. Wonderful texture, great freshness, the tannins ‘sweep the sweetness out of the mouth’, as Mondavi once said to Niepoort. Incredible purity, freshness, intensity and harmony. I’ve put a start date of 2025 but this is ridiculously delicious now even though it clearly has massive potential longevity. An incredible dark, rocky purity with a long savoury finish, the fruit is intense but not ultra-fruity. This reminds me of the rocky Douro from which the wines come. Sheer beauty with hidden power. Glorious, very long, totally moreish even now. Drinking range: 2027 - 2070 Rating: 19.5 Julia Harding MW, www.JancisRobinson.com (Jun 2019)

The 2017 Vintage Port is epic and a triumph, the best I’ve witnessed in all my years at Niepoort.... 2017 was a great year in all aspects, the harvest promised perfection and the weather during the harvest helped achieve this. Up until this point, 2015 was the best Vintage Port I’d made. 2017 is in the same line of 2015, but with a touch more perfection…it’s possibly our finest Vintage Port since 1945. This is a Port that is concentrated and intense with beauty and perfection shining through. Perfect tannins with a fruit component that is austere, precise and alive. The spirit is perfectly integrated, and the resulting finish is long, seductive and persistent. All its components are wonderfully balanced, a veritable orchestra in harmony. A fatal attraction with an insane potential for ageing, yet unbelievably perfect in its youth. This 2017 Vintage Port is unquestionably a King of Ports.

Niepoort Vintages 1927, 1942, 1945, 1955 and 1970 to name just a few, are powerful and rich on one side and with great harmony and elegance on the other. The key word to describe our Vintage Ports is Balance, an incredible balance between all the components: huge tannins, sweetness and alcohol. Very old vineyards - all over 80 years old from Cima Corgo - low yields, grapes foot trodden 100% with the stems, result in amazing Vintage Ports. 2005, 2007, 2011 and 2015 are all incredible Vintages and the outcome of a fine-tuning process to achieve a perfect 2017. Nature helped in all aspects and from very early stage it was clear that something magic was on its way. We made a very attentive selection of the grapes taking all overripe grapes. The result was an amazing balanced yet powerful wine with unbelievable freshness, tight strong focused tannins, and totally well integrated alcohol. A luscious, generous wine with a long long long finish.

(Dirk Niepoort)Winemaker's notes (May 2019)

Niepoort

Bucking the trend once again, as is his way, Dirk Niepoort proudly declared his excellent Vintage Ports in 2015 unlike the rest of the top producers - and this year he is declaring only the Bioma. This is his superior Port from a single plot on a steep slope.' From our tasting this declaration is totally justified. The wine is superb and fascinating. At Niepoort the aim is harmony and balance these are both here with the Bioma 2016 - but it is also a more cerebral wine than others released - a different feel - this is off-beat perhaps but in a good and beguiling way.

At the same time that famous English names were establishing themselves in the Douro, the other great Port importing nation - the Netherlands - was sending bright business types to set up Port Houses. One such was Franciscus Marius van der Niepoort. Five generations later and the dynamic Dirk van der Niepoort is at the helm.

Niepoort used to be well-known for their Tawny and Colheita ports, but Dirk has worked tirelessly to raise the profile of their Vintage Ports too. One of the key moves, with this in mind, was for Niepoort to purchase their own vineyards with Quintas de Nápoles, do Carril and do Passadouro coming under the Niepoort wing at the end of the 1990's.

This wine isn't currently part of a mixed case, but you can always browse our full selection of mixed cases here.
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