2005 Niepoort Redoma Branco Reserva

The 2005 “Redoma Reserva” Branco is sourced from high altitude old vineyards with vines averaging 60 to 100 years old. This is principally a blend of Rabigato, Codega, Donzelinho, Viosinho and Arinto. It spent eight months in French oak. It smells of oak at first, but with every moment open, the steel and acid come through. It is somewhat fuller in the mouth than the regular bottling, with a better finish, and somewhat higher perceptible acidity, an earthier, more intense and more powerful wine than the regular bottling, which seems open and drinkable now. The Reserva could use a little cellar time, at which time it should surpass the regular bottling. It is beautifully structured, and grows on you. This is a very serious white wine from a Douro producer who obviously intends to make a statement for white wines as well as reds. The winery calls it a white Burgundy ringer, and it does have that feel to it. There were approximately 833 cases produced. Drink 2008-2014. Dirk Niepoort is the principal of this familiar, family-owned Port house. However, dry wines are hardly a sideshow for Niepoort, and he has become one of the region’s driving forces in establishing the table wine industry. His dry wines date back to circa 1990, which seems to be a very long time ago considering how many new wines, wineries and winemakers have emerged in the Douro in the last decade or so. It occurred to me that if the Douro has a Robert Mondavi, a relative pioneer who seems as interested in pushing the brand as himself, it is probably Dirk Niepoort. One ironic thought also occurred to me. While the winery is justly considered a quality house for reds and a driving force in the dry, red revolution, it ultimately may become most famous for another reason: Niepoort is perhaps without equal for whites. Importer: Eric Solomon, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565; Martine’s Wines, Inc.; tel: (800) 344-1801