2005 Niepoort & Telmo Rodriguez Omlet Douro

[Ronald Wortel]

Made by Telmo Rodriguez (from Toro, of Gago) from a selection of Niepoort grapes. Bottled by Niepoort.

This has a typical Douro nose, but has the supple accessibility of a Toro wine. It is not as ripe and warm as Toro wines tend to be, but shares the lovely cherry fruit and earthy character. On the first night, I didn't think this lived up to its 30 euro price tag entirely, but it showed better on the second day. More freshness, and more tight. The structure really came up now, and the freshness gave it a better balance. A bit of a difficult beast that would be interesting to taste again in 5 years time.