The Niepoort family, originally from the Netherlands, has been creating Port Wines since 1842 and established themselves as one of the most respectable Port Houses.

Dirk Niepoort, fifth generation, runs the firm with a dedication and enthusiasm that has made him one of the most popular figures in the wine trade, and quickly became a trailblazer of table wines in Portugal with his projects focused on Terroir, elegance and the relentless pursuit of freshness. Dirk helped transform the Douro region and the way the world thinks about wine, with wines transcending the heat and displaying astounding craft and elegance.

His vision has striven to improve the company on all aspects: the vineyards were upgraded in sustainability (notably most are farmed organically, without any pesticides and herbicides) and the winery completely revamped. As for the grape crushing, Dirk is a passionate advocate of the traditional method of ‘treading’ (by foot) to extract maximum colour and flavour. These efforts resulted in magnificent examples from recent years.

Dirk Niepoort deserves the accolades he receives for his hard work, dedication and wonderful craft which propelled him to be one of the most reverred in Portugal and a world wine legend, elevating not only Port but Portugal’s dry wines.

Poeirinho, whose name refers to the former designation of the Baga grape variety, is a tribute to the great Bairrada wines of the past, which were light in colour and low in alcohol but offered a tremendous ageing potential. Dirk Niepoort’s great passion for this grape variety and the fantastic terroir of the Bairrada region inspired us over the past few years to acquire a number of small but very old Baga vineyard sites around the Cantanhede area. Year after year, we have been fine-tuning this wine’s maturation, and in 2015 we managed to express the pure fruit and the typical Atlantic individuality of Bairrada in a unique way.

2015 was a wet year, with rainfall in winter and spring. As a result, budburst occurred 15 days later than the previous year and the growth cycle was delayed. Summer was not as hot as usual, and the nights were relatively cool in the last 2 weeks of August. The harvest began mid-September in the old vineyards whose vines showed very even ripeness, with high sugar levels and relatively high malic acid levels in the fruit, which resulted in a higher total acidity than in the previous vintage. The 2015 Poeirinho was made using grapes from various very old vineyard parcels. It was fermented in open lagares and in closed tanks where it went through carbonic maceration and where it remained for 4 weeks, before completing its fermentation in wooden vats. The wine went through malolactic fermentation in the used 2500L wooden vats, where it also aged for 20 months. It was bottled unfiltered.

Soil type – Calcareous Clay

Grape – Baga

Age – 100 years

Residual Sugar – 1.3 g/L

Alcohol – 11.5 %

The 2015 vintage of the Poeirinho displays a brilliant violet hue. On the nose, it is very generous, fruity and overall expressively aromatic. After some time in the glass, it shows a lot of class, with incredibly fine and delicate aromas. The wine impresses with its saline and maritime notes which are so typical of its calcareous terroir. On the palate, it offers a lot of precision, with great structure and grip. It is linear, distinctly mineral and refreshing, with notes of fresh fruit (cherry, strawberry and wild berries). Thanks to its high acidity and marked but smooth tannins, this is a wine which will age beautifully in the bottle. It finishes very long, with the same linearity and freshness. It is best enjoyed slightly chilled (15°C), in a Pinot Noir glass.

Roasted kid goat, sausages, oven-baked cod or vegetarian dishes based on legumes.

Wine Advocate – 95 points

The 2015 Poeirinho is another terrific Baga from Niepoort this issue. His Baga wines have become my favorites in his red lineup across many regions. It was aged for 20 months in used 2,000-liter fuders and comes in at just 11.4% alcohol. This (well, with the Alagoa, although that at least seemed more open when first poured, before it shut down) is the most backward of the red Bairrada group, rather tight, a bit rustic and a little mute, needing some time to open up. That said, the fruit flavor is there in the background and it has the precision and focus of the others, with a serious backbone. This requires some patience—five years might not be nearly enough; ten would be better—and it should age exceptionally well, if well stored and sourced, of course. Eventually, this might be the best of the Niepoort reds this issue, although the Vinha da Alagoa will have some say there, but it doesn’t show that way now. It still looks like a big star. 10,000 bottles produced.