Niepoort

The history of the Niepoort winery begins in 1842 with Franciscus Marius Niepoort. Like so many great port houses we still know today, the first goal of Franciscus Marius was not the production of port wine, but the distribution of the wines, which at that time were still mostly produced by Portuguese. After 45 years of tireless activity, the founder died in 1887, leaving Jackob Eduard Karel van der Niepoort a flourishing company. He continued to expand his father's work and brought Niepoort to at least the 2nd tier of top port producers.

His son, Eduard Marius Niepoort, finally took over the fortunes of the Niepoort house in 1912. The enthusiastic natural scientist and fine spirit brought the house through difficult times. Finally, in 1927, Rolf von der Niepoort was born. The 4th generation joined the company at the age of 23 and devoted himself mainly to business as well as human relations, while he remained rather conservative when it came to wine and port.

Today, the vast majority of people associate Niepoort with Dirk van der Niepoort (more correctly Eduard Dirk). The likeable curly-haired man has been the conceptual head of the winery since 1987 and started an innovation marathon that has made Niepoort one of the most sought-after houses in the country, both in terms of wine and port.

The most important and first step of Dirk was the acquisition of its own quintas, vineyards in the Douro Valley. Namely, they decided on Quinta de Nápoles and Quinta do Carril in the top port wine region of Cima Corgo. Here, 15 hectares were newly planted and he vineyard and 10 hectares of 60-year-old vines were carefully maintained.

Niepoort today - from Vila Nova de Gaia out into the world

Here, very close to Porto, just 15 people are working on the great Niepoort miracle. The most important is Master Blender José Nogueira, who has been making port since he was 14 and is already training his son to succeed him. The Niepoorts and the Nogueiras form a unit already of the company foundation, so that on both sides already the 5th generation is responsible for Niepoorts wines.

Fabulous Douro - the reinvention of dry red wines

in 2002, Dirk Niepoort opened a new chapter for the Douro Valley with the first Fabelhaft wine. The labels with the Wilhelm Busch drawings have become legendary, especially since Dirk had a separate label created for each exporting country. The first Fabelhaft wine - a dry cuvée of the classic port grape varieties Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Amarale and Tinto Cão - was a revelation for many and made dry red wine from Portugal a new greatness, not only in Germany.

In the meantime, Fabelhaft wines are also available as white wines and rosés - but nothing has changed in the basic concept of wonderful drinkability with beautiful complexity.

Niepoort goes South - new vineyards in Dão and Bairrada

After Niepoort 's Fabelhaft wines had thoroughly transformed the Douro Valley, Dirk tackled other underrated regions of Portugal. Among the first was Dão Rótulo, which combined Touriga Nacional, Jaen and Alfrocheiro from granite soils. In Bairrada, Dirk Niepoort found noble limestone soils and old Baga vines, in addition to slate (Douro) and granite (Dao). Here, among other things, it was the varietal Lagar de Baixo that brought all the expressiveness of the Baga into the glass. With the light, bright, high-acid and rather low-alcohol Baga wines, Niepoort was able to expand its portfolio to the maximum.

Niepoort - truly European wines

Today, Dirk Niepoort devotes himself, among other things, to his FIO project, which he launched together with Philipp Kettern on the Middle Mosel. Here, the focus is clearly on Riesling.

Where Niepoort produces wines everywhere in Portugal

Douro

• Port wines from Ruby to Vintage Port
• dry red wines from Fabelhaft to Redoma to Batuta
• dry white wines from Redoma Branco to Moscatel and Riesling Dócil

Dão

• dry red and white wines from the Rótulo and Conciso series

Bairrada

• Red wines from Baga, namely Lagar de Baixo, Drink Me Nat Cool and Poeirinho