Interview with Luis Seabra responsible for the vineyards and the winemaking; the Niepoort winemaker. Were sitting at the brand new winery in the Tedo river valley, overlooking the terraced vineyards along the river and the Douro region impressively steep slopes. The new winery was opened in 2007 and it has allowed them to do the winemaking the way they really would like to do it – with the time and space they want. They can for example work entirely by gravity.
Luis talks about the style of the Niepoort wines, often understated. The ambition is not to make big and impressive wines but to make balanced wines that go well with food. Niepoort is often lighter, fresher and more balanced wines than many others, wines where you want to finish the bottle to the end.
They make a wide range of different wines, white, red and port wines. The whites includes Tiara, a stainless steel fermented wine from very old vineyards, a bit riesling inspired, also left for a long time in vat with some reductive character; Redoma and Redoma Reserve, both fermented in barrel, which are unfortunately often drunk far too young. They are loft for quite long time on the lees.
Do not miss Part 2 of the interview with the Niepoort winemaker where we will talk about the red wines and about the future of the Douro Valley wines.
More on Niepoort: https://www.niepoort-vinhos.com
This interview was made during a visit to the Douro Valley and the Douro Boys wineries in connection with the European Wine Bloggers Conference #EWBC 2009 in Lisbon.
Music: Mofessor, ScentoMeter, www.Podsafeaudio.com
By BKWine, https://www.bkwine.com
