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Viinin Kuvailu
The Story
Vintage Port maintains Niepoort's tradition of making balanced Ports with great concentration, being at the same time fine and delicate. We strongly believe we can make a Vintage Port with potencial to last for decades. Vintage Port must be bottled within two or three years of the harvest date.
The magic of Vintage Port is different in every phase: as a young wine it captures the youthful fruit characters. Then, after 20 years or more, the effects of the slow bottle age integration are revealed and finally, after many decades, the spirit dominates the wine. Vintage Port is amazing in all the three phases. Half sweet taste, combining with its strong structure. Firm and long tannins, but balanced as a whole. Please, note that Vintage Port needs to be decanted. Perfect with "Queijo da Serra", Stilton or other blue cheeses and with egg desserts, like the portuguese "Pão de Ló".
Soil Type: Schist
Vineyards: Vinha da Pisca, Pinhão e Ferrão
Average Vine Age: 60 and over 100 years
Varieties: Touriga nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Francisca, Tinta Amarela, Sousão and Tinta Roriz
Vines per Ha: 4000 - 6000
Wine Information
2009 has all the ingredients of a classic Vintage year: POWER & ELEGANCE. Low yields, perfect maturation, great concentration and on top of that great acidity. It was clear for us from the start of the 2009 harvest that the perfect conditions for port were there: timings of picking were perfect and the weather conditions ideal. The youngest vineyard is over 80 years old and all the fruit comes from Cima Corgo. The grape varieties are the “usual suspects” from typical mixed vineyards. This vintage continues Niepoort’s tradition to create balanced Ports with great concentration but fine and delicate.
Harvest Report
Although we had a reasonable amount of rain during the month of June in Pinhão, July and August were quite dry with less than 3,5 mm of precipitation. The total rainfall in 2009 until the end of the month of September was 30 to 40% less than the average over the previous 30 years. The other significant impact on the year were the very high temperatures as of 12th August that remained during the month of September without any rain, except for a light thunderstorm in the middle of the month.
For the Douro wines we started harvesting very early – August, and we feared it would be a difficult year with all the wines over 14º alcohol, but the fact is that we are using so many high altitude, north facing vineyards and the perfect timing to start harvesting (earlier than everyone else in Douro), made the difference. Fruit arrived in the winery in very good condition and we manage to harvest most of the vineyards without having raisins, the main work was to chill grapes before being processed in the winery. Tasting everything we have made and still fermenting we feel quite happy with all the wines, which exhibit very deep colours and good concentration but maintaining freshness. White wines are also very promising, with very good freshness and incredibly low alcohol content.
We believe it is a great year for Ports, low yields and high concentration, deep colours - everything we need for great ports. The first fruit was harvested very early on 28 th August from more exposed vineyards in Vale de Mendiz and then later from Soutelo where classic, robust wines have been made while at the same time some wonderfully elegant,individual and fresh wines have been made from less exposed north facing vineyards in Vale de Mendiz. The Pisca vineyard was picked at different stages of the harvest and has produced some very fine wines. The high temperatures were a constant challenge and all wines exhibited high pH´s, the wines have now all been corrected and it will most interesting to see how they close up over the coming winter months.
All the components for our 2009 Vintage Port were trodden by foot in circular granite lagares at our Port winery in Vale de Mendiz. As usual for a vintage of this quality, we included almost 100% stems in the vinification. The component Ports were racked soon after harvest, and aged in ‘toneis’ in the Douro over the winter, before moving them to Vila Nova de Gaia in March 2010. From there, we re-tasted extensively in order to find the ideal wines for a 2009 Niepoort Vintage Port. The final blend then rested again in ‘toneis’ at our Lodges in Gaia, until bottling in May 2011.
Tasting Notes
It has a voluptuous nose with great fruit, but also very spicy and peppery. On the palate, this port is highly concentrated, with huge structure, and massive, but sexy, tannins. A Vintage Port of power, elegance, and balance. Once again, at Niepoort, we believe that we have produced Vintage Port to last for decades to come.
Technical Information
