Niepoort (Vinhos)

The port wine house with its headquarters in Porto (suburb of Vila Nova de Gaia) in the Douro region of Portugal was founded in 1842 by Eduard Kebe. The Niepoort family, who immigrated from the Netherlands, joined in 1847 and took over the company after the owner's death. It is still family-owned today in the fifth generation and is run by Dirk van der Niepoort. The latter discovered his interest in top wines during an internship at Moevenpick in Switzerland. After a year of practice at the Cuvaison winery in California, he joined the business in 1987 alongside his father Rolf. He acquired die Güter Quinta de Napoles and Quinta du Carril. The vineyards cover 25 hectares and are planted with Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Amarela (Trincadeira Preta), Gouveio (Godello), Rabigato, Viosinho and Sousão (Vinhão). A special feature are the very old vines, some of which are over a hundred years old.

Under the name "Redoma", a red wine and a white wine are produced from autochthonous varieties. The red wine "Batuta" is made from old vines and aged in barriques. Port wines are the speciality, and the house is best known for its tawny wines. However, all other varieties such as Colheitas, Vintages and Late Bottled Vintages (LBV) are also produced. A rare speciality of the house are Garrafeiras (similar to an LBV) which are first matured for three to six years in traditional pipes (wooden barrels) and then for around 20 years in eleven-litre glass balloons (Demijohn) before being bottled and marketed. Niepoort has held a stake in the Quinta do Passadouro estate together with the Belgian entrepreneur Dieter Bohrmann since 1991. The vineyards cover 22 hectares. Among other things, a Single Quinta Vintage is produced here.