MosCATel 5 years
Region: Porto
Producer: Niepoort
In Portugal we also have grape varieties with the potential of creating outstanding wines with this fantastic acid/sugar balance. Being an outspoken defender of authentic Portuguese wines, Dirk Niepoort is teasing out all the potential that the Douro’s Moscatel grapes harbour for producing fortified white wines. With its unmistakable aroma, complexity, acidity and elegance, this wine underlines everything that characterises the Niepoort style.
The best grapes for the Moscatel 5 Anos stem from old vineyards growing in soils transitioning from schist to granite, at 400 - 500m above sea level.
| Volume | 75.0 cl. |
| Grape Variety | Moscatel |
| Drinking window | n.v..t. |
| Alc. | 20.0% |
| Vinification | In order to retain a high level of acidity in this wine, the grapes were harvested shortly before reaching full ripeness. The wine was 100% whole-bunch fermented in lagars and then aged primarily in old, previously used wooden barrels (“pipas”) as well as in new French oak barrels (10% of the wine). <br /> During the ageing period in wood, the wines which will make up the Moscatel 5 Anos are selected. This blend of old and young vintages lends the wine body, intensity and complexity. <br /> |
| Ripening | - |
Waar serveer je ’m bij?
Niepoort has been making port since 1842, and this is their reading of Moscatel: the grapes are picked just before full ripeness to keep as much acidity as possible, and that is the key in a sweet wine. Without acidity sweetness turns heavy; with acidity it stays fresh. Five years of ageing, twenty degrees of alcohol, and the floral, musky perfume Moscatel is known for. This is the house's entry into sweet wine, and at the same time the most drinkable.
Dried figs with walnut
Blue cheese with walnut bread
Serveren op 10–12 °C
Dirk Niepoort's impact on the Portuguese wine landscape can hardly be overestimated. When he took over the helm from his father Rolf in 1990, as the 5th generation of the originally Dutch Van der Niepoort family, it was immediately clear that something was about to happen.
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