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.

Fulfilling a Dirk Niepoort’s dream, TURRiS is a wine made from an old vineyard with more than 130 years without any pruning method, facing south, in Cima Corgo, Douro. After maturing for 16 months in over 60-year-old Fuder barrels originating from the Mosel region, the wine then spent a further 20 months maturing in bottle.

The 2017 vintage experienced extreme drought. We had a very early, short and intense harvest, which began on 10 August and ended on 10 September – the earliest we have ever started harvesting at Niepoort! The grapes stem from a single high-altitude vineyard which provides us with a fantastic balance between sugar content and acidity. We harvested the fruit mid-August in order to maintain freshness in the wine in such a hot year. After meticulous sorting, alcoholic fermentation took place in stainless steel tanks, with approximately 20% whole bunches. We let the juice macerate for 1 month so that we could carefully extract the full potential of the vineyard. The wine matured in over 60-year-old foudre barrels.

Soil type – Calcareous Clay

Grape – Various (field blend)

Age – more than 130 years

Residual Sugar – 0.6 g/L

Alcohol – 13.2 %

The Turris 2017 is a wine which embodies Niepoort’s fresh profile even in a year as hot and dry as 2017. With an intense ruby red colour, the wine offers aromas rich in spices, dark berry fruit and a graphite mineral character typical of schist soils. On the palate, the wine delights with elegance as well as structure, revealing dark fruits of the forest and some green pepper. Vibrant and electric, it culminates in a dry and lingering finish. A complex, one-of-a-kind Douro wine. Decanting recommended. 

Spicy dishes, pepper steak, and red meat.

Decanter – 97 points

Finely honed and nuanced with diaphanous blue and black forest fruits, lilting florals, spicy coltsfoot and hints of pine needle and graphite. Feathered tannins and fresh acidity tease out the layers. Fermented with 20% whole bunches and aged in old foudres, A sentive expression of 130-year-old bush vines at the very apex of Vinha de Torre in Covas do Douro.

James Suckling – 96 points

This has explosive aromas of flowers and light balsamic with touches of earth and plums. The palate is medium- to full-bodied with subtle berry character and a long, ethereal finish. Made from an extremely old vineyard planted at 800 meters. This has 35% whole clusters and a long, one- to two-month maceration. Drink now or hold.
 

Wine Advocate – 94+ points

The 2017 Turris is a field blend of very old vines (130+ years) aged for 12 months in used 1,000-liter German vats. It comes in at 13.2% alcohol and in a fairly modest bottle for its status, which I suppose is a good thing and eco-friendly. So, props to Niepoort there. My pick as the best of the winery’s reds this issue—although perhaps not by as much as the price spike would suggest—this seems fuller in the mouth than I suspected it would be. It’s round and coats the palate beautifully while remaining elegant. The wood treatment mutes the fruit flavor just now, but this should continue to develop and it should become more interesting. The tannins are not too hard, but they emerge steadily with aeration, so this plainly needs some more cellaring on several fronts to show its best. It seems to have considerable potential, all as yet unfulfilled. Let’s be a little cautious, as this is very backward, but this looks like an even bigger superstar when it gets closer to peak, probably around 2027-2030 or so. There were 2,666 bottles produced.

This is a fascinating collection on a number of grounds. The wines, as always, are interesting in their own right. But looking up and down the list, one thing I noticed was that price is not always the key determinant in the Niepoort collection. You can drink well for modest money. Of course, there are also wines from regions where price points tend to be lower, like the Conciso, but you can do well at the lower and mid-level here even in Douro, like the Bioma, Vertente and the regular Redoma Branco. In his Bairrada output, separately listed, the 2017 Quinta de Baixo (Niepoort) Poeirinho is hardly cheap, but it is awfully impressive at a list price of $40.

Of course, greatness beckons with some of the upper-level, like that Turris, which has a lot of unrealized potential. And that’s not going to be cheap.