2005 Niepoort

[Alex Bridgeman]

There is something about Dirk Niepoort's ports that just doesn't sit right with me, but I've not been able to put my finger on it yet, but they just miss the mark for what I look for in a vintage port. This was no exception, from a half-bottle. Thick, dark and viscous in the glass, an impenetrable purple in colour. A huge nose of blackcurrant lozenges, sweet and attractive, that leaps out of the glass. Smooth entry, a huge wave of fruit and then a massive tannic attack that grabs hold of your lips and cheeks and doesn't let go although the mid-palate is nicely balanced with its fruit presence. The aftertaste starts very dry, stays very dry and finishes ... abruptly. This is not a bad drink today, but is not great but does have lots of potential upside over time. Scoring purely from a personal view, this is well below the average of what I expect to drink this year and so I will score it as a 2 for current drinking. I also think this will have shut down and be in a dumb phase in 10 years so is unlikely to be any better - probably worse until it pulls itself back together in its late teenage years. An overall score of 2/1 or 84/100 but should be much better than that in 20 years.

[uncle tom]

The youngest Niepoort I've drunk is a '97 - which I think is a Dirk wine.

Compared to the very agreeable '87 (pre Dirk?), the '97 had an up-front intensity that I found a little OTT - but I can well understand some people adoring it.

I recall the reviews of the '03 Niepoort were not very consistant - not everyone's cup of tea perhaps..

Tom