For The Love Of Port

can anyone tell me why there is so precious little older vintages of niepoort available anywhere? i mean, i RARELY, if ever, see it in any of the main auction houses, it never appears online at the bigger retailers like premier cru, brown derby, aabalat etc.

i am dying to try some older vintages like 66, 70, 77 and i never see them available. can anybody help a port brother out?

dave

From my understanding Niepoort was never a promenant producer here in the states, until relatively recently. They also are a relatively small house when compared to giants like Taylors, Fonseca, Grahams, etc.

From what I was told when there last year, was the reason they don't have a lot of old stocks left is due to being drunk by family members over the past almost 100 years and not much though was given to saving bottles for future generations to enjoy. That policy has now changed.

Andy is right. Niepoort's library stocks are not in abundance. Their importer(s) (now there are finally 2 in the USA) did not have access to old stocks and the USA was not an important market for Niepoort, compared to Northern Europe where they excel.

Odds are David, you are not going to find many older bottlings of Niepoort for sale in the USA. You are far more likely to try them if you make it out to Seattle. I have a 1937 Colheita standing up on death row, currently.

Anyway, even in the UK, Niepoort is not often found with age on it. Pre-1985 bottles are few and far between. Now if you look in Belgium and especially The Netherlands and even Germany, you will find them all over the place. How many wind up being sold is hard to say, but given the very small quantities produced in the first place ... don't hold your breath.

Now if you look in Belgium and especially The Netherlands and even Germany, you will find them all over the place.

If only... You may find them a bit easier here than in the UK and US, because the Netherlands has always been a more important market for Niepoort, but especially the older vintages are hardly 'all over the place'. Andy is right: they are rare, production has always been small and there are no stocks to speak of.

Roy, I would be more than interested where you found older Niepoorts "all over the place" in The Netherlands...believe me, I've looked, but found only a few.

Roy Hersh wrote:You are far more likely to try them if you make it out to Seattle. I have a 1937 Colheita standing up on death row, currently.

Be careful, Roy ... I'm just a 3 hour drive away.

I was recently trying to track down some Niepoort (based on recommendations in this forum) and it is really hard to find. When I do stumble across it, it's priced way into the stratosphere (like $80+ for a 20-year tawny). Ouch...

Is it common for Niepoort to sell at such premiums?

Michael,

I suggest you try K&L wines, High Times in Costa Mesa, Ca., John and Petes Fine wine and spirits in Los Angeles. They all carry the Niepoort 20 year for $60 or less.

If you don't have a subscription to Winesearcher.com, you need too. It is worth the couple of bucks for the annual pro-subscription. I've saved more in one purchase than the yearly fee because of it. (just a happy user of it).

Thanks for the advice, Andy. I'll check those guys out and see what I can find. I'll also look into the WineSearcher subscription. You're the second person to mention it to me today, so I'll take that as a sign...

Thanks!

I've a single bottle of the 1960 purchased in Lisbon. Not sure how good its going to be though.