1987 Niepoort Vintage Port

[Roel B]

Opened and tasted 4/5/2013 - no decant time.

The cork came out pretty much in one piece. Large amount of depot in the bottle.

On the eye: The wine has a brownish red color. Medium to high transparancy, without the nose you might think of Nebbiolo or Pinot Noir. There is a wide discoloration towards the edges from full brown-red in the middle to fully transparent on the rim. The wine is clear and very bright.

On the nose: At first it was closed. However, this was probably due to the wine not being decanted. After about 30 minutes in the glass it started to open up and showed an expressive character. Lots of dark-red fruit complemented with both secondary and tertiary tones such as dried raisins, caramel, coffee and exotic spices. Great complexity and with every minute in the glass more complexity surfaces. I left some in a small decanter and will monitor it's progress throughout the next day.

On the palate: Good structure and concentration. Acidity: medium to high, tannins: medium - soft, ripe. Sweetness: medium to high. Alcohol: Alcohol noticable but not negative - very nicely integrated. Mid-palate: ripe, black fruits, a bit jammy, great spiceyness, a bit of orange zest. Structure: medium to high. Finish: medium, sweet, full and a some spices.

Overall conclusion: Nice, classic port, well balanced with good complexity. It seems to get better with some decant time however. No negatives whatsover, but the length could be a bit better. Drink now to 2020.

Score: 18/20.

[Andy Velebil]

Great note on a vp not often seen..well at least in these parts.

[Marc J.]

I had this VP a few weeks ago and my notes were very similar to yours. I have always found this to be a very approachable, elegant VP. With that being said, giving it ample decant time is critical. Its not a pop 'n pour by any means, but with sufficent air time it really begins to open up.

[Roel B]

I had this VP a few weeks ago and my notes were very similar to yours. I have always found this to be a very approachable, elegant VP. With that being said, giving it ample decant time is critical. Its not a pop 'n pour by any means, but with sufficent air time it really begins to open up.

Got 10.5 bottles left to test that

@Andy: well, we could always set-up a little Niepoort vertical if you guys are on this side of the pond.. I've got most of them from 77 onwards and can probably source the rest on short notice. Just add a short Amsterdam stopover to one of the Porto/Douro trips!