TN: 2005 Niepoort Charme Douro

[michael miller]

Had this last night, decanted for 2 hours (last minute wine selection).
Medium deep dark purple color with a touch of red. Youthful, pronounced aromatic of ripe dark fruits and spice. Very port-like, of course. Medium body, balancing structure, fruit character similar to the nose. Good concentration and length. Can drink now, but needs maybe 3-5 years. Did not match well with the pasta. The slightly sweet tomato sauce made the wine a touch bitter. Although, my taste is a little screwed due to a cold (and shingles!).

Michael

[Andy Velebil]

Michael,
Just curious if you've had any other vintages of this? and if so, what you thought about them in comparision to the 2005.

[michael miller]

Andy,

This is the first dry wine from Dirk I have had. I really don't have anything to compare to except other producers from the Douro. Have you had this wine yet?

Michael

[Andy Velebil]

Yes, I've had them all and this was probably the one I least liked so far. Although it's kinda close between this and the 2002. While well made, it just lacks any sparks. More of a conservative easy drinker that I'm not sure how well it will age. The last bottle I shared with some serious wine friends and they pretty much had the same opinion of it.

[Frederick Blais]

Yes, I've had them all and this was probably the one I least liked so far. Although it's kinda close between this and the 2002. While well made, it just lacks any sparks. More of a conservative easy drinker that I'm not sure how well it will age. The last bottle I shared with some serious wine friends and they pretty much had the same opinion of it.

It is funny you write this stuff. On another topic about this bottle, you mentionned that 2004 was probably the more representative of Charme's style, I said 2002 and Dirk says 2005. When I did open a bottle to make it taste blind to some of my friends, they all said the same as you, well made wine but no sparks. It was served after a few young Burgundy, none of my friends really like the 2005 and really thought it was over priced.

I say funny because Dirk really likes it while others think it lacks something, I really hope it will shine and open up in a few years! Not to argue with Dirk but recently some bottles of his wines that he told me he didn't like when they were young are really shining up for him today... hope the reverse will not happen with this Charme!

[Andy Velebil]

I do to, as I bought a 1/2 case of it and it's not exactly cheap But I just don't see this getting much better. The stuffing just isn't there to support it. I know that Squires from the Wine Advocate also is not a fan of this wine. Matter of fact he gave it a pretty poor review after having around 6-7 bottles of it over the course of about a year. IIRC, he said there was a lot of burnt matches and reductiveness on almost all the bottles he had, to which Luis agreed. I'm inclined to think that a bit of dirty wine-making-area, which has lead to off and on issues with the Ports, finally creeped a little into the dry wines. Hopefully with the new facility that has or will stop....Just a hypothesis there and thinking out loud. I also think Dirk should narrow things down a bit. I think he is going in far to many directions at once lately with all the various types of dry wines he is trying to make. That leads to not spending as much time as he did previously with the other established wines and the lack of attention is starting to show. I may be a bit harsh there, and as you know I love Niepoort's wines, but lately I just haven't seen the quality that I did previously and that makes me a bit sad. And again, I think that is mainly due to Dirk trying to do to many new things at once...something I've seen happen at a number of California wineries in the past several years.

[Frederick Blais]

lately I just haven't seen the quality that I did previously and that makes me a bit sad. And again, I think that is mainly due to Dirk trying to do to many new things at once...something I've seen happen at a number of California wineries in the past several years.

Funny I did not have that problem with Charme 2005. I do believe that there is a problem with his wine though and spoke to him about it. The problem I've seen is that they don't travel well by boat. All the bottles I did bring back from Portugal by plane were pristine, though the one I do buy from the SAQ are showing a reductive phase that lacks the freshness and elegance of the one I do bring back or taste in Portugal. Or should it be that he ships out of Europe the more concentrated, oaky showing bottles? He was surprised about it when I told him, that's why I think more about the boat thing.

About him trying to do too many things at once... it will not stop as he is still expending the list of small projects he is doing. As soon as he can extract the personality of one place in the Douro, he'll do it. He is a thinker, a passionnate of the Douro, this is what drives him. He does things for him and fortunately enough, it does sell good for the moment.

[Ronald Wortel]

Interesting comments. I have this wine on my list to drink this Christmas, and will certainly report on it. It will be my first experience with the 2005 since tasting it from barrel, so I'm really eager to see how it shows.

[michael miller]

I think people expect something from a typical Douro red; robust, tannic wines with a certain rusticity. And when someone makes a wine like the 2005 Charme with finesse and elegance it throws everyone for a loop. It has the aromatics of a typical Douro red, but on the palate it is smooth, medium bodied and ready to drink in the short term. I would like to taste the rest of Dirk's dry wines to really see the style he is trying to accomplish. Although I am sure he is striving for a burgundian style with Charme.

Michael

[Frederick Blais]

I like your comments Michael. This is why I like to much the wines of Niepoort. They are not just another robust wine from the Douro, they are authentic wine with personality from the Douro. Still the wine are keeping that douro character with the sweetness of the fruit. If you want to do something great for Charme, I'd recomment porc tender loin or lamb meals with fruit based gravy.

[Andy Velebil]

I think people expect something from a typical Douro red; robust, tannic wines with a certain rusticity. And when someone makes a wine like the 2005 Charme with finesse and elegance it throws everyone for a loop.

Yes this is more of a burgundian style wine and is very different than most Douro wines. However, when you compare the 2005 to the other vintages this just doesn't show the same quality. Of course, not every vintage can be a blockbuster so...

[michael miller]

Like I said before, this is the only dry wine from Niepoort that I have tasted. I wish I could compare. BTW, I am moving my wine cellar and saw all my Nacional this afternoon. Holy s--t, I was drooling. It has been a while.

Michael

[Andy Velebil]

Micheal,
Do try to find some of Niepoort's other dry wines. IMO they are one of top producers of Douro dry wines and probably the only house that has really excelled in both arenas.

[Ronald Wortel]

Tasted on Christmas day. No formal notes were made, but this was a gorgeous wine. Exotic, spicy nose, with earthy and toasted tones. Sweet and dark fruit on the palate, soft, but persistent. A spicy, long finish. Will will probably even get better with time. A very nice match with the tenderloin steak, poached in red wine stock. 93+ points

Is this on the same level as the 2002 and 2004? It's been too long ago for me that I've tasted the others in order to make a confident comparison, but I do remember giving both the 2002 as 2004 slightly higher scores. That said, the 2005 is a beautiful wine and I'm glad I have some more bottles in the cellar.

There is a bit left in the bottle, that I'll taste tonight. It'll be interesting to see how it has developed over the course of two days.