Niepoort & Telmo Rodríguez

This is not a winery. It is a handshake: a Spanish winemaker who came to the Douro, and a house that likes to try other ways with a terroir. Dirk Niepoort and Telmo Rodríguez make Omlet together, a Douro red. Omlet is Telmo spelled backwards.

Niepoort tells the story plainly. Telmo, who has made wine in many regions of Spain, wanted to make one in Portugal, in the Douro in particular. Niepoort is always looking for different approaches to different terroirs. It also says it wanted to learn.

The grapes come from two old vineyards in the Covas valley, planted on schist at 500 metres and above, facing east, where ripening is slower and gentler. Niepoort puts the vines at 60 to 80 years old. Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz lead, with a good share of Sousão and Alicante Bouschet, and other varieties besides.

The idea was to let Telmo's hand show: less extraction, and a wine with no edges. The details moved from year to year. The 2008 and 2009 fermented in wood, without stems, with 25 to 30 days on the skins. The 2011 fermented in stainless steel. Each then spent 18 months in wood: casks at first, and old wooden vats as well in the later years.

The runs are small. Niepoort calls the 2008 the third edition and counts 4,863 bottles of it, 3,288 of the 2009 and 6,750 of the 2011.

One wine, two names, one of them backwards.