Dirk Niepoort in Oslo - tasting 14 Niepoort red wines (Batuta, Charme, Robustos)

[Rune EG]

Yesterday evening I participated in a small group (26 people) of Niepoort Douro wine enthusiasts. Dirk Niepoort presented the following 14 wines:
6 Charme: 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
5 Batuta: 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2007
3 Robustos: 1990, 2004, 2005
I had previously tasted a couple of Charmes and Batutas, and one Robustos (05), but lacked the overview of these three high level wines from Niepoort. This opportunity was a great education and putting many pieces of a puzzle into one picture.

There are clear styles between the three, Batuta being powerful and a lot of Douro, Charme having elegance and being close to Burgundy (at least for some vintages), and then the robust Robustos which is as it name says!

Batuta and Robustos are my type of wines. I do also like Charme, but there are so big variations between the vintages of Charme that it is stretching the truth by saying that Charme has a clear style. Charme 2006 is my clear favorite, and this is a fantastic wine, and the one that is closest to Burgundy. I personally think that the “hunt” for being elegant with Charme has reached such a stage in Charme 08 that the wine ends up being super elegant, but has lost a lot of character on the way (however, leaving the door open for the fact that the wine is still somewhat closed). I wonder how that wine would perform in a blind tasting; as I am not sure it will do well! Also liked the Charme 2002 and 2007. The six Charmes were varying in scores from 87 to 94 pts.

As for the Batuta we started the evening with his first Batuta, namely 1999. This was one of my absolute favorites during the evening, another one being 2005. The youngest we tasted (07) was somewhat difficult to “catch”, as it was quite closed and too early to judge in a broad way. I have a case of that vintage, so it is going to stay untouched for some years. I liked all the five Batutas and they got scores from 90 to 94 pts.

The three Robustos are very nice wines. It was a surprise for us that Dirk brought with him two bottles of the famous and rarely available Robustos 1990, of which only one pipas was available (abt 600-700 liters). We ended the evening with this wine. In spite of the fact that we had tasted 13 wines previous to Robustos 1990, it was not difficult to feel the power, the complexity and never ending finish of this wine. People around the table that know more about Italian wines than I do, claim it is similar to older Barolo, meaning late 60s. I could still feel the Robustos 1990 in my mouth when I left the tasting restaurant! I gave Robustos 1990 the highest score of the evening (95 pts), while 2004 got 92 pts and 2005 got 93 pts.

A very interesting experience regarding these three wines, and I know now what to look for with this basis for judging further vintages.

Rune EG

[Moses Botbol]

Where was the Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee? You did not finish the evening with a basic tawny or split an LBV between 15 people?

[Rune EG]

Hi Moses!
Had to smile now!
No, there were no ports served as there were purely a red wine tasting.

I did mention to Dirk that I had been in his Porto cellar together with FTLOP early October, and he then immediately commented that we "had not got anything good to drink" (his words). So, someone must have mentioned the experience to him........

Rune EG

[Moses Botbol]

I did mention to Dirk that I had been in his Porto cellar together with FTLOP early October, and he then immediately commented that we "had not got anything good to drink" (his words). So, someone must have mentioned the experience to him........

I am sure that was his intent. If it could be any worse, they could've pretended not be at the lodge until we walked away. I saw an offer on 2007 Niepoort VP at an attractive price and had to chuckle. I'll stick with the Symingtons, lol...

[Roy Hersh]

Now that is what I call a great tasting. Thanks for posting this Rune.