NV Niepoort - Porto 10 Year old Tawny

Niepoort was founded in 1842 by Franciscus Marius Niepoort, a Dutch immigrant who settled in Vila Nova de Gaia and began trading Port wine, and the house has remained in family hands across six generations since. For its first century and a half, Niepoort operated purely as a shipper, aging and blending wines bought from Douro growers rather than farming its own vineyards. That changed in the late 1980s when fifth generation leader Dirk Niepoort acquired the Quinta de Nápoles estate, a pivot that also pushed the house into acclaimed dry Douro table wines while its Port production stayed rooted in tradition, still overseen in the cellar by the Nogueira family, whose partnership with the Niepoorts also dates to 1842.

This 10 Year Old Tawny is a blend of numerous wines averaging a decade in cask age, sourced from old vines on the schist soils of the Pinhão Valley and made from a broad mix of traditional Douro varieties. The base wines are foot trodden and fermented in lagares before fortification, then aged for years in small oak casks in the historic Gaia cellars, where master blender José Nogueira balances the different lots for consistency and character.

The wine shows a tawny color with aromas of dried apricot and crystallized tangerine peel woven through a nutty base. On the palate it is full of dried fruit flavor, finishing with a spirited, warming kick and real structural length. Serve it with roasted almonds, dried peaches, or a simple egg custard tart.