Museu dos Lagares 2018

Weingut über: Museu dos Lagares

-- Weingut: The Museu dos Lagares 2018 is the wine which, following in the footsteps of the Turris, has put Niepoort firmly on the world map of great terroir-driven red wines. This single vineyard wine embodies the quintessence of the Douro Valley: the multidimensional complexity of its old vines and the genetic heritage of more than 30 different grape varieties are interpreted with finesse, freshness, sophistication and simplicity. We would even go as far as to say that this is a “Grand Cru” Douro wine – pure, precise and delicate. The 2018 vintage will go down in history for producing the lowest ever recorded yields in the Museu dos Lagares vineyard. Picking began in the first week of September. The winemaking philosophy for this vineyard site was to allow the vines to express all their elegance and finesse in the wine. To achieve this, a minimum-intervention vinification process was adopted: grape bunches were kept whole and were lightly foot-trodden in traditional stone lagares in which they macerated for a brief period before completing alcoholic fermentation. The wine was then transferred to French oak barriques where it went through malolactic fermentation as well as an ageing period of 15 months before bottling. The rainy winter, the dry spring coinciding with budburst and the hot summer all provided ideal conditions for this world-class wine. Black cherry and tobacco aromas mingle on the nose, joined by subtle smoky notes, spices and herbs. The structure of this wine is the very definition of elegance. The palate is fresh and round, with a dry and piquant finish which lingers on the tongue.