2023 Niepoort Douro Branco Reserva Redoma

Lemon curd, dried mangoes, pineapple and some spices on the nose. The palate is full- bodied with a ripe yet balanced profile, but with a spark of acidity that brings it all together. Very long, with a very elegant sense of density and texture. Layered, harmonious, and well-integrated within its style, this is one of Douro’s great whites. Sourced from the cooler right bank of the river, it is a blend crafted from old vines of rabigato, codega de larinho, arinto, viosinho, and other varieties, grown on mica schist soils at elevations between 400 and 600 meters.

The white 2023 Redoma Branco has a Burgundian profile. They work with vines in the zone of Murça and Porrais on slate and granite soils, with a mixture of varieties. The full clusters were pressed, and the juice fermented in 228- and 500-liter barrels where it matured with the lees for six months. In 2023, the harvest was quite long, aiming at ripeness between 11.5% and 12.5%, and this year the bottled wine finished at 12% alcohol, slightly lower than in 2022. It has clean and expressive aromas of white fruit, flowers, spice and a touch of smoke and a very tasty, harmonious and precise palate. A little lighter and fresher than the 2022, it should age nicely.