254 Port anD the Douro
voluptuous in style with the morello cherry character of well-ripened Douro fruit. Dirk
Niepoort himself describes it as ‘a wine that shows the roughness of the wine without
being rustic’. Redoma Branco (white) is a field blend of the Douro’s leading white grapes
(Rabigato, Gouveio, Codega and Donzelinho) from vineyards at altitudes of between 400
and 800 metres, mostly in the upper reaches of the Pinhão valley. Once again, old vines
produce a wine with wonderful concentration but Niepoort is keen to preserve the acidity
and minerality in the fruit by picking early. Around 40 per cent of the wine is barrel
fermented and spends around twelve months on the lees, lending a fine Burgundian
quality. A Reserva from 110-year-old vines which spends eighteen months on the lees,
mainly new oak, has the poise and richness of fine white Burgundy. Redoma Rosé, with
its wonderful strawberry and cream aromas, is 25 per cent barrel fermented ‘to keep the
wine alive’. It is based on early-picked Tinta Amarela and, relatively deep in colour and
full-bodied, is a versatile wine for drinking through the summer months – but unlike
most rosés it will keep for five years in bottle.
Batuta is Redoma’s big brother; a deep, dense, bold red based (unusually) on Tinta
Amarela and aged for twenty-eight months in new French oak. It has bitter chocolate
concentration mid-palate and a fine peacock’s tail finish, both of which are characteristics
of the finest vintage Ports. Charme is the antidote to Batuta, an altogether more elegant
red billed by Dirk Niepoort as the Douro’s answer to Côte de Nuits. Grape vines ranging
between 80 and 120 years old at Vale de Mendiz in the Pinhão Valley are picked relatively
early and fermented in lagar (sometimes on the stems) to produce an open, soft, quite
luscious red with sophistication that is rare in the Douro.
A wine that just qualifies for a mention here is Niepoort’s Dado, a unique blend of
some of the best wines from Douro and Dao. Needless to say it forfeits the right to either
DOC being classified as no more than a Vinho da Mesa, but it combines the structure,
depth and character of two of Portugal’s leading regions.
Quinta do noval
Quinta do Noval – Vinhos, SA
avenida diogo Leite, 256, apartado 1319, 4401-111 Vila nova de Gaia
tel.(351) 223 770 270
http://www.quintadonoval.com
Noval began experimenting with Douro reds in the 1980s and made some ‘black-strap’ reds
which were never released. Under the ownership of AXA Millésimes, Noval’s winemaker
António Agrellos has taken the production of Douro wines to a level of excellence compatible
with their superlative vintage Ports. Quinta do Noval is a complementary blend based of
Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, solid but supple and full of fragrance. Cedro do
Noval, the estate’s second wine, includes a small proportion of Syrah and Tinta Roriz to
produce a suave, yet spicy wine with freshness on the finish. Labrador, named after Agrellos’
dog, is 100 per cent Syrah yet still manages to express the terroir of the Douro. Given the
foreign input, the latter two wines qualify as Vinho Regional Terras Durienses.