SOME DRY NIEPOORT'S AT NELL'S - Seattle, WA, USA (8/28/2004)
(Dinner with Suzi, Barney, Beth and James Gwertzman.) Last night I popped open a pair of dry reds from the Douro valley. I have had remarkably little experience with wines of this region other than Porto, and our last guest visit from Dirk van der Niepoort (as well as having a chance to meet Dirk in person a year ago last May) have made me wonder what I have been missing. If my taste last night is any indication, I have been missing a lot.
These were outstanding wines, clearly still very young and very fresh, showing lots of structure, nearly bracing acidity and impressive quantities of complex, leathery fruit and texture. Fascinating wines!
- 2000 Niepoort Douro Redoma - Portugal, Douro
Dry wine from the Douro Valley. 13.5% The nose is leathery and slightly sweet, showing cranberry and raspberry. Despite the familiar words, this is somewhat foreign smelling and unique. On the palate this has a sweet initial attack and then shows chewy texture, tannic and mouthfilling with impressive acidity. This is a very big wine yet very vibrant and fresh. The finish is fairly long yet clearly showing a lot of tannin and loads of acid. I flirted with 89 points for a while, but there is so much fresh, juicy fruit here awash all of that acid and tannin. It hangs together quite well. (90 pts.) - 2000 Niepoort Douro Batuta - Portugal, Douro
Dry wine from the Douro valley. 14.0% On this night, this is clearly a big brother to the Redoma. Many unfamiliar scents, yet emerging from that are some that reminded me very much of a Barbera, with obvious notes of shoe polish and saddle leather. Over the course of a couple of hours this gaining a gorgeous, floral perfume and notes of saturated blackberry. The palate was initially quite black, powerful, grippy, yet very vibrant with lots of acid coming out. This has a really impressive entry and just sweeps across the palate. Lots of juicy berries are coming out, and the acid is less prominent than on the Redoma. This is deeply extracted, layered, powerful yet still quite elegant. A somewhat unique and puzzling wine yet one that clearly makes me want to taste more from the Douro. (93 pts.)
