Niepoort Late Bottled Vintage 2018

€ 18.50

This wine has aged 4 to 6 years in large old oak barrels (as opposed to vintage port wines, which normally mature for 2 to 3 years). LBV porto's fill the gap between Ruby and Vintage port wines, because a ruby young must be drunk and a vintage port can easily continue to mature in the bottle for another 15 to 20 years before it shows its true splendor. This led to the creation of a port wine in the sixties, which stays in large barrels for 4 to 6 years before being bottled. This resulted in a wine of the vintage port type with its deep color and deep concentration of fruit, and an adult character due to the extended aging time in the wooden barrels.

Dark ruby in colour with a red rim, this LBV brings dark chocolate aromas to the foreground, along with fruits of the forest and a spicy character. It offers medium weight on the palate with firm structure and acidity providing superb freshness and ending in a spicy, warming finish. The wine is drinking beautifully now, with great freshness and primary fruit in evidence, but it will also benefit from further cellaring for a couple of decades.

Food pairing

Delicious with chocolate desserts, especially when dark and bitter chocolate is used, foie gras, sublime with cheeses such as Cheddar, Gouda, Brie & Portuguese cheeses. Spicy dishes with red meat or game, including lamb and veal. However, the combination that surpasses everything is Rolf Niepoort's suggestion, LBV and pepper steak!

Grapes: Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Francisca, Tinta Amarela, Sousão, Tinta Roriz

After a considerably wet and relatively cool growing season up until July, it appeared that the harvest would be very late, however the end of July and the month of August were dry and hot in the Douro, allowing the ripening process to catch up. In Vale de Mendiz, harvesting began on 12 September. Heavy rainfall on 13 September meant that we had to halt picking but this proved most useful as it allowed the grapes to reach full ripeness over the following few weeks.Harvest resumed under fine conditions with cool nights, and the last grapes were harvested at Vale de Mendiz on 14 October. Yields were down by approximately 30% in the region, but the low yields and good weather conditions concentrated the fruit.

Store & Serve

Store horizontally, at a constant temperature away from intense direct light. Because this wine is still ripening on the bottle, sediment can be formed with time, so that the wine has to be decanted for consumption. Open 2 hours before decanting. After decanting, the wine will quickly reach its peak and is best consumed during the course of the day. Drink between 16º C - 18 ºC

Alcoholcontent

19,2 %vol

pH: 3,64

Critics & Awards

3,9/5 - Vivino (204 ratings)

Tags : Niepoort - Douro