1964 Niepoort Garrafeira (bottled 2014)

[Alex Bridgeman]

A bonus half bottle shared by the decanting crew at the 1977 horizontal on 19th December 2017, courtesy of Tom.

Decanted into a half bottle in 2014, shortly before Dirk's 50th birthday dinner in his cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia. A greenish shade of brown, the colour of polished olive wood, 20% opaque. Soft dates, coffee and star fruit on the nose, perfectly balancing the sweet sugariness of the dates against the sharp tang of the star fruit. A lovely nose to sniff for a few minutes. The balance and texture on the palate is a delight. Lots and lots of coffee and date yet with the acidity for a perfect balance. This port manages the trick of being big and mouthfilling yet still delicate and refined, delivering multiple layers of coffee and toffee. The aftertaste is huge with a delicious burnt orange, with dates and coffee which softens to a gentle and lingering light raspberry syrup that is just slightly too sweet to be ideal. A beautiful wine, full and elegant. 94/100. 19-Dec-17.