Niepoort

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

His son, Eduard Marius Niepoort, finally took over the management of the Niepoort family in 1912. The enthusiastic natural scientist and a fine mind 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 itself mainly to business and human relations, while he remained rather conservative when it came to wine and port.

Today most people associate Niepoort with Dirk van der Niepoort (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 from and port.

Dirk's most important and first step was to acquire his own quintas, i.e. his own vineyards in the Douro Valley. The Quinta de Nápoles and the Quinta do Carril in the top port wine region of Cima Corgo were chosen. Here, 15 hectares of new vineyards were planted and 10 hectares of 60-year-old vines carefully restored.

Niepoort today - from Vila Nova de Gaia to the whole world

Here, very close to Porto, just 15 people work on the great Niepoort miracle. The most important one is Master Blender José Nogueira, who has been making port wine since he was 14 years old and is already training his son as his successor. The Niepoorts and the Nogueiras already form a unit when the company was founded, so that on both sides the 5th generation is already responsible for Niepoort's wines.

Fabulous Douro - the reinvention of dry red wines

In 2002, Dirk Niepoort opened a new chapter for the Douro Valley with his first Fabulous 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 made from the classic port wine 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, fabulous wines are also available as white and rosé wines - but the basic concept of wonderful drinkability with beautiful complexity has not changed.

Niepoort goes South - new vineyards in Dão and Bairrada

After the fabulous wines of Niepoort had thoroughly turned the Douro Valley upside down, Dirk went on to tackle other underrated regions of Portugal. Among the first was Dão Rótulo, which united Touriga Nacional, Jaen and Alfrocheiro of granite soils. In Bairrada, Dirk Niepoort found noble limestone soils and old baga vines in addition to slate (Douro) and granite (Dao). Here it was, among other things, the varietal Lagar de Baixo that brought the full expressiveness of the Baga into the glass. With the light, bright, acid-rich and rather low-alcohol Baga wines, Niepoort was able to expand its portfolio to a maximum.

Niepoort - truly European wines

Today, Dirk Niepoort devotes himself, among other things, to his FIO project, which he initiated together with Philipp Kettern on the Middle Moselle. Here the Riesling is clearly in the foreground.

Where Niepoort produces wines everywhere in Portugal

Douro

• Port wines from Ruby to Vintage Port
• dry red wines from Fabulous to Redoma and 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