2017 Niepoort

[Alex Bridgeman]

Deep purple in colour with an opaque centre and a narrow rim. Superb blackcurrant fruit on the nose, very sweet and perfectly ripe with a lovely esteva perfume. A wonderful balance on the entry with the fruit leading; fruit which is ripe and clean with no over-ripeness. Astonishing perfumed tannins on the mid-palate; ripe and fine-grained but astonishingly well integrated into the fruit. A fabulous perfume to the fruit. The aftertaste has a slight chewiness to the fruit, fruit which fades in and out of the finish, lingering for ages and dancing with the gentle green-edged tannins.

This is a beautiful wine with a wonderful balance of clean, pure fruit but with powerful tannins. The purity and elegance of the wine is amazing - and makes this very special. 94-96/100. Tasted 11 April 2019. Decanted 1 hour.

[akzy]

Tried this at bft. I didn't make notes for this but I have it as the highlight of the vintage table. I shall certainly be trying to get a case.