2001 Niepoort Vertente Douro

[Andy Velebil]

As with the 2003 vintage, I bought a number of these on release and drank most of them young. I managed to set aside three bottles of this to see how they would hold up. My last bottle of the 2001 was almost a year ago, and I wasn't to pleased with how it was holding up. Well, lets just say bottle variation can sometimes be a nasty thing. This bottle in no-way resembles that bottle I had almost a year ago. Although not decanted, It took about one hour for this to really start strutting itself...plenty of white pepper dominate a palate of bright cherries, its dusty texture across the palate, fresh acidity, a finish that gets longer the more air this gets, and tannins that continue to expose themselves, whats not to like! This is an excellent bottle of Vertente and I was shocked at how well this bottle is holding up. I have one bottle left and I hope it shows as well as this bottle!
91 points