Niepoort Tiara White 2021
€ 38.51
| Producer | Niepoort |
| Region | Douro |
| Grapes | Rabigato, Códega de Larinho, Donzelinho, Cercial |
| Ageing | Large vats, 1 year on the lees |
| Alcohol | 11.6%vol | pH: 3.19 |
| Serving | Serve at 10°C, drink at 12°C |
| Scores | 93/100 James Suckling |
Tiara 2021: Niepoort’s only white from granite soils, salty and vertical.
Tasting note
A slightly reductive character, with minerality, the salty character of the granite, and edge. Straightforward, with the direct, full flavour of the granite soil, flavoursome and vertical. It needs time in bottle and matures quite slowly.
The story
Tiara is the only white wine from granite soils, from two specific sites in the Douro. The current style began in 2012: before that it was made entirely in stainless steel, without malolactic fermentation, as an attempt to make a Riesling from Douro grapes.
The grapes come from very old vines at 600 m. The wine ferments in stainless steel and ages in 1,300- to 2,500-litre vats, with full malolactic fermentation and a year on the lees. 12,600 bottles were made, bottled in January 2023.
Food pairing
Delicious with grilled fish, shellfish and white meat. Vegetarian: pasta with cheese.
The producer
Niepoort was founded in 1842 in Vila Nova de Gaia and has belonged to the Dutch Van der Niepoort family for five generations. For more than a century it was a Port shipper without vineyards of its own. That changed when Dirk Niepoort joined his father Rolf in 1987: that year the family bought Quinta de Nápoles on the Tedo, in the Cima Corgo, followed by Quinta do Carril in 1988.
With the first Redoma in 1991 Niepoort became one of the pioneers of unfortified Douro wine, and a new winery was completed at Quinta de Nápoles in 2007. Dirk Niepoort also works in Bairrada, the Dão, Vinho Verde and the Mosel, and his son Daniel joined him at the helm in 2020. The Ports age in the cellars of Vila Nova de Gaia.
Critics & Awards
93/100 James Suckling | Tasted: May 2023
Sliced apples, white nectarines, dried herbs and sea shell, with a touch of matchstick. Medium-bodied, juicy and tense with an attractive mineral mouthfeel and a zesty, slightly phenolic finish. Drink or hold.
Sliced apples, white nectarines, dried herbs and sea shell, with a touch of matchstick. Medium-bodied, juicy and tense with an attractive mineral mouthfeel and a zesty, slightly phenolic finish. Drink or hold.
4,2/5 Vivino (107 ratings)