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Tasted within the Niepoort Range on Nov 27th with Dirk Niepoort:

I had the 2005 numerous times and it never impressed me.

Very good structure with violet reflections. Nose showes some blackberry-jam-notes, not too expressive. The palate is full with some fruit, coffee and a little tannin noticeable. Fairly short aftertaste.

You can call this elegant Vintage Port, but for me it fails strength and some power, that a young VP needs to have at this stage

16

Axel

For Dirk this is the best Port he ever made. Elegant and very long lasting. He said, that this will even outlast the 2003. A bet that I would be very interested in making.

There are others who agree with you that this wasn't one of his best VP's. Yet I've heard Dirk say this is the best he's made *scratching head*

This port has a very nice colour and a vey deep nose.

Taste: tanninic and you can chew it. There a hint of acidity in the taste which helps the fruit to develop in the mouth.

The aftertaste is extremly long.

After retasting it 48 hours later, the port seemed a little more lighter. I can not say how this port will develop in the future

Tannin management pushed to perfection. Not sure this should be the objective though. Extremely "modern", velvety texture, hugely opulent with layers of fruit. Ample complexity and good length, but will this have the brute staying power to become truly ageworthy port? Cheers, victor