Douro wines 253either bottled separately from the best-performing single quintas or blended from properties
within the group. Each year a good, well-balanced and affordable red is made under the Tr ê s
Bagos label.
Quinta dos Macedos
Paul Reynolds – Sociadade de Explorações Agricolas e Agro-Vitivinicola Ltd.
sarzedinho 5130 – 141 ervadosa do douro
http://www.quintamacedos.com
With six hectares of vines in the Rio Torto planted between 1920 and 1945, brothers Paul
and Raymond Reynolds produced their first single estate wine in 2000. There are sixteen
different grape varieties in total but the predominant grape is Touriga Franca. The grapes
are foot trodden and fermented in granite lagares, and aged for up to twenty months in new
French (Allier) oak. With tiny yields, Quinta dos Macedos is a traditionally dense, super-
concentrated wine with a thwack of new oak. Like a vintage Port, it is a wine that is made
to last. Lagar dos Macedos is the second wine from the property and is (slightly) lighter in
style. Reynolds also produces a more accessible Douro red from fruit in and around the Rio
Torto known as Pinga do Torto.
niepoort
Niepoort (Vinhos) SA
Rua candido dos Reis, 70, 4400-071 Vila nova de Gaia
tel. (351) 223 777 770
http://www.niepoort-vinhos.com
Dirk Niepoort has the most comprehensive and impressive range of wines in the Douro.
Making the most of a network of long-established growers and suppliers, many with no
more than a patch of octogenarian vines, Niepoort made his first Douro red, Redoma,
in 1990. Five years later he produced his first white followed in 1999 by a rosé, both also
christened Redoma. These were followed by three more reds, Batuta, Charme and Robustus.
Then along come two more reds, Vertente and ‘Drink Me’ to complete the range – except
that Niepoort’s range is never complete as he is always experimenting with something new
and different.
You might be tempted to think that one region is not capable of this much differentiation
but each wine reflects a certain style and/or terroir. Vertente (meaning ‘slope’ or ‘angle’)
underpins the Niepoort range but it is very far from basic. It is made from grapes produced
by younger vines (fifteen to sixty years old) on predominantly south-facing slopes. A
high proportion of Touriga Nacional shows through in the deep colour, fragrant berry-
fruit aromas and refined yet fleshy fruit on the palate and wonderful balance and length.
The red Redoma is sourced from older vines, growing mostly on north-facing slopes at
Niepoort’s own estate, Quinta do Carril and Quinta de Napoles, which are adjacent to
each other on the lower reaches of the Tedo Valley mid-way between Régua and Pinhão.
Redoma started out as a rather rustic, dense, uncompromisingly traditional red (perhaps
closer in style to a top Alentejano wine) but more recent vintages have become supple and