TN: 2001 Niepoort Vertente Douro

[Andy Velebil]

I bought a good number of these on release and drank most of them early on, but I also thought it would be fun to put a few aside and see how they would age. The best I recall, the last time I had one was about 3 years ago. So last night it was time to check in and see how she was holding up.

Well, lets just say time wasn't kind to this bottle. Showing a touch of oxidation on the palate, fruit that was drying out, a simple palate, with a short finish. The one thing that hadn't happened was mellowing of the tannins. This was still loaded with some big dusty tannins that took me by surprise. Nothing flashy here and this is fully past its prime. My remaining two bottle will be cracked very soon. So if you happen to still own some I'd drink sooner rather than later....much sooner.
81 points

[Bob Parsons Alberta]

Andy, I need some help. "The fruit is drying out". Is this sensation similar to tannin? How does one explain the difference?

Thanks Bob

[Andy Velebil]

Tannins, are well tannins. They are either there or they are not. The dry dusty tannins have a different sensory feel to me than the fruit. More in the roof of the mouth, and furriness on the tongue.

Since I've had this many times in the past, when this was younger the fruit was much more lively and fresh, to use the term. The fruit now was far more drier and fading. A good example would be a fresh strawberry and one that has been freeze dried. They are both still strawberries but the dried one doesn't have the richness and texture that a fresh one does. I hope this helps, if not let me know and I'll try to explain it better.

[Bob Parsons Alberta]

Thanks Andy. What I was trying to get at is the fact that I thought a dried out wine had the puckery sensation that one gets from a tannic wine?
For example. My `01 Bordon Rioja is still puckery. Is that tannin or is the wine drying out??

[Jan-Tore Egge]

Anybody know how the 2004 is doing?

[Frederick Blais]

Anybody know how the 2004 is doing?

I did open one about 1,5 years ago. It was still having much of its fruits shining!

Dirk's coming to Montreal in a month or so. I did suggest him to run trough a complete line of Vertente from my cellar. If he has the time, we'll do it. I'll keep you posted.