For The Love Of Port

From a bottle I bought at auction soley because I've never had a 1985 Niepoort VP, and I can only recall seeing one other tasting note on it. Decanted about 9 hours and after an initial glass it was enjoyed with friends while smoking a nice Romeo & Julieta Churchill cigar on the front porch....and watching some teenager skateboarding by fall off his board a couple of times. Now that was funny, but I guess you had to be there.

I was surprised at the color, still very dark reddish purple that looked more like a 1991 or 1992 VP. A very pungent plum and cherry cough syrup nose that showed no secondary characteristics at all. It was still quite primary and only this morning is some eucalyptus detectable. Yesterday this was not showing very well, simple plums and blackberries, very hot, and a clipped finish. Today though things have changed; the heat has completely integrated and subsided, lots of blackberries dominate the palate but are tempered by spices and menthol. Plenty of acidity and tannins to carry this for many more years and based on how young this shows now I am quite curious to see how it does over the long term. I must admit that yesterday I wasn't a fan of this Port, but today I am. If you happen to own some, I'd lay them down for at least another 10-15 years.
91+ points.
09/21/09

Nice note! I guess that I need to wait another decade before opening my stash....

Marc

My very first VP i ever drank. I was impressed too, have to get me some more.

I'll hold off on pulling the staples out of my OWC's of this then... Thanks for the update.





Wait.... Don't have any Niepoort 85. Never seen it for sale except for a few flashes of available then gone. Why isn't someone filling this need in our port community?

Guys,
I'd hold off a bit, unless you've never had it. You should open one just to see what it's like at this stage.

I've only ever seen it come up for sale twice here in the states in recent years. I'm guessing there wasn't much made and not much imported to the US back then.

I have never seen a bottle of the 1985 Niepoort in the US. Wine Searcher does not show a single bottle available here.
-Dave-

How can we import a pallet to the US? Why isn't the US distributor getting the products the consumer wants here?

Moses Botbol wrote:Why isn't the US distributor getting the products the consumer wants here?

I didn't think Niepoort had a US distributor.

Eric Menchen wrote:

Moses Botbol wrote:Why isn't the US distributor getting the products the consumer wants here?

I didn't think Niepoort had a US distributor.

From what I've heard and been told they did back then, but Niepoort wasn't exactly a household name like Talyors at the time. IIRC, Shawn D. (from ) used to import it back in the 1980's. Hopefully he can chime in with his knowledge on it.

And Niepoort still is a relatively small company when you compare them to the likes of TFP/Symington's/Sogrape/Sogevinous/Ect. So I would assume it was more a matter of not having a large amount to sell to begin with coupled with a small market share in the US.

I didn't think Niepoort had a US distributor.

Eric,

I assume that you and Moses both mean "importer" and not distributor.

Martine's is the US importer for Niepoort. She is a serious importer, mostly known for bringing stellar Burgundy producers to the USA (Leroy is just one example). However, her company has never done a great job with Dirk's Ports in the USA.

I bought my 1985 Niepoort bottles back in 1992 on Long Island, just before moving to Virginia. I thought that $25 was expensive at the time and drank only one or two of them young. I've only opened one in the past few years and agree with Andy that these need another decade or so. Not as good as the 1991/1992/1994 Niepoort's but a worthy purchase and this was the last VP made fully by Rolf, Dirk's father, without Dirk's involvement (he began with the 1987 Vintage).

I did mean importer and stand corrected.

Some 1985 Niepoort is now available in the US at Hart Davis Hart. All show signs of seepage.
-Dave-

No reason to intentionally buy VPs with indications of seepage unless they are truly great bargains. At least that is my narrow view on the topic.

David Spriggs wrote:Some 1985 Niepoort is now available in the US at Hart Davis Hart. All show signs of seepage.
-Dave-

That is a grey area. I have seen that marked and every bottle was perfect, and other times it was slight at best. See if they'll take a picture of the worst or average bottle. If indeed there is seepage, it would have to be 25% off.

Moses Botbol wrote:If indeed there is seepage, it would have to be 25% off.

I'd say that at $60, it has been discounted.

Eric Menchen wrote:

Moses Botbol wrote:If indeed there is seepage, it would have to be 25% off.

I'd say that at $60, it has been discounted.

I dunno... you can sometimes find pristine bottles of Smith Woodhouse in that price range, and while Niepoort is (brand-wise) a notch above Smith Woodhouse it's also not Fonseca ($80) or Graham ($90). $60 seems like a pretty normal price to me for a 1985 Niepoort.