Niepoort 20 Years Old

Niepoort 20 Years Old Tawny is produced by Niepoort, founded in the Douro in 1842 and run today by Dirk Niepoort. It blends Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Sousão, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Amarela from schist-soil vineyards, some over a century old, in the warm upper Douro. After fermentation is arrested by grape spirit at 19.5% alcohol, the wine is aged for an average of twenty years in 550-litre port pipes. This long maturation in smaller wood is the heart of the style: steady, slow oxidation through the porous oak strips the youthful red away, drawing the colour to brick-brown with orange tones and developing the nutty, dried-fruit complexity prized in old Tawny. Niepoort works in a traditional register, treading grapes by foot and fermenting in stone lagares. The colour is amber with an orange rim. The nose shows crystallised fruit and dried apricots over toasted hazelnut. The palate carries those same dried fruits with caramel and a long nutty close. Serve lightly chilled at 13 to 15C in a small glass. It suits nutty cheeses, marmalade tart and toffee puddings.