The essence of Dirk Niepoort’s Douro is essentially an ‘estate wine’. Made from mixed vineyard plots, mostly from Tinta Amarela and Touriga Franca grapes, from vines of 50-80 years in age.  A masterful interpretation of the Douro’s intensely flavourful grape varieties with their dark fruit: it contains none of the jammy, bitter heaviness, instead offering a lively, fruit-forward, complex and elegant wine. The texture of the palate and the chalky tannins deserve a study of their own. A memorable encounter between the unique soil, the high-altitude vineyards and the old vines.