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Wine Description
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
VINTAGE 2017: The growing season will be remembered for its intense heat and record low levels of rainfall. In spite of the dry weather, flowering and bud burst developed under good conditions, and in August and September the high day temperatures and cool nights allowed for even and gradual ripening. The decision to start harvesting early, at optimum ripeness, allowed us to harvest grapes in ideal condition, with fantastic natural acidity. At the Vale de Mendiz winery, harvest began on 24 August under perfect weather conditions, with musts displaying intense colour and a powerful character. The last grapes were harvested on 26 September. Yields were down by approximately 30% compared to a normal year, essentially due to water stress.
Vinification: All the fruit for the 2017 Vintage Port were foot-trodden in circular granite lagares with 100% of the stems. The wines were racked soon after harvest, aged in tonéis (large barrels) in the Douro over the winter, and then moved to the cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia in March 2018.
Bottled: June 2019
Ageing: 2 years in "tonel"
Dry Extract: 121.5 g/l
Residual Sugar: 89 g/l
Alcohol: 19.7%
Baumé: 3.2
pH: 3.56
Total Acidity: 4.8 g/l
Volatile Acidity: 0.24 g/l
Total SO2: 53 mg/l
Volumic Mass: 1.02 g/l
Production: 40,500 bottles
Food Suggestions: Perfect with cheeses such as “Queijo da Serra”, Stilton or other blue cheeses, as well as chocolate desserts and blocks of dark chocolate.
Suitable for Vegans: yes
Tasting note: A wonderful dark purple rim and great depth of colour characterise the wine’s appearance. The aromatic profile is dominated by superb youthful dark fruit. It is powerful on the initial attack, leading into a fresh mid-palate with beautifully seductive flavours of dark fruit. A great combination of power and elegance, ending in a bold, dry, lengthy and slightly green tannic finish. The length and structure of the 2017 vintage promise a long-lived wine with great ageing potential.
Vintage 2017
The 2017 vintage produced exceptional ports in the Douro. It was a dry year with compact bunches of excellent quality berries and extremely low yields. The advanced growing season resulted in our earliest ever recorded harvest start date. Nothing less than a spectacular year for Vintage Port!
