Wine of the week: these three Portuguese wines are sheer heaven

published 29 March 2019

2015 Niepoort,VV Vinhas VelhasBranco, Bairrada, Portugal£42.99, Handford Wines, 020-7589 6113,handford.net

I am a fan of the wines from the legendary Niepoort portfolio, but I have always felt that the wines stopped just short of genuine excellence. Everything changed at the annual Wines of Portugal tasting, where a series of Niepoort wines left me reeling with delight. I have three for you.

First, VV Branco, a white made from 100-year-old Maria Gomes and bical vines. On account of the high acid in these grapes, the wine undergoes malolactic fermentation in 1,000-litre foudres, which were sourced from the Mosel more than 60 years ago. With only 11.5% alcohol, a truly ethereal flavour and so much complexity and beauty in the glass, this is one of the lightest and most mesmerising white winesI have ever tasted.

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The 2015 Poeirinho, Bairrada (about £40, theatreofwine.com, drinkmonger.com) is a red made from the baga grape. Pale in colour, low in alcohol (11.5%), hypnotic and weightless, it makes the slenderest of pinot noirs look like it needs to get on a treadmill. Drink it slightly chilled.

Lastly, 2016 Tiara, Douro (£23.99, lewisandcooper.co.uk; 01609-772880) is made from 60-year-old-plus vines, cdega do larinho is the predominant grape variety and the vineyards are situated at 600 metres above sea level in the Douro. Juicy and floral, this is a relatively generous white and yet, again, the beauty here is undeniable. All three wines are sheer heaven.

Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com)

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.