Niepoort Jubilee. 170 years of Niepoort!
This was a big surprise for me - to say the least. Dirk brought one of the new VV bottles to the tasting. Having tasted some old Colheitas you could imideately see by the colour and the concentration that this wine, which I just recently heard about, was old - very old. Dirk said that the mother vintage of this blend is 1863. For all of us having tasted the 1863 Colheita two years ago at the Niepoort Vertical in Leverkusen as desert Port, the expectations were very high.
Pitch dark color at the center getting only a little bit lighter towards the edges (much too small to call this a rim) with intense green reflections. Extremely concentrated nose with full toffee and honey flavor, a perfectly supporting acidity and hints of various herbs and tobacco-leaves. On the palate this concentration continues with an impressive, but not overwhelming concentration of dried fruits, caramell, some honey notes and smoke. Extremely long and pleasant aftertaste, which continues to go on and on and on...
In comparison to the VV bottled in the 50s it does show some similarities, especially when it comes down to concentration, but the new VV does combine intensity, elegance and a perfect balance of flavor, acidity and sweetness. Well done and very, very close to perfection. 19+/20
Axel
PS. I am re-tasting the sample which was left in the bottle while writing this.
Furhter information on this at:
http://niepoort-vinhos.com/en/ports/VV.html#VV
- Niepoort VVs 03 small.jpg (226.83 KiB) Viewed 3787 times