Niepoort Charme 2015, Douro

Description

Niepoort Charme is all about elegance and balance and is the ultimate interpretation of Dirk Niepoort’s strong passion for the Burgundy region. It is vinified in traditional stone lagares with 100% grape stems and Charme’s elegance is achieved using grapes from very old vineyards (average age 70 years, some 100 years plus) in Vale de Mendiz, on the banks of the Pinhão river. Niepoort Charme is the only table wine that is made at Niepoort’s Port Vale de Mendiz winery which is where Niepoort’s Ports are made. All of the other still wines are made at Niepoort’s futuristic Quinta da Napoles winery.

Niepoort was founded as a Port House in 1842 and today is run by the 5th generation brother and sister Dirk and Verena Niepoort. Whilst they are style very well known for their superb Port wines, they are now considered to be one of the top Portuguese producers of table wines. Dirk really was at the forefront of the Portuguese wine revolution. He first started experimenting with wines in 1990 and releases his first wine, Niepoort Redoma Tinto in 1991. Dirk continues to experiment and innovate and produces some fantastic Douro wines as well as from relatively newly acquired vineyards in Bairrada. 

After a manual harvest, the grapes for Niepoort Charme were very carefully sorted on the sorting table to ensure only optimum fruit was selected. The grapes were then lightly crushed with 100% stems into granite lagares where they were foot trodden. Charme initially undergoes fermentation in Lagare and then moves on to barrel, where it concludes the process and undergoes malolactic fermentation. The wine undergoes minimal racking and is aged in French oak barrels for 15 to 19 months.

The wine is a blend of Tinta Roriz, Touriga Franca and other Douro grape varieties.