Omlet

Omlet is a collaboration between Dirk Niepoort and the Spanish vigneron Telmo Rodríguez - Telmo making a Douro red in his own gentle, low-extraction hand on Niepoort's home ground (the name reads as 'Telmo' backwards). The fruit comes from two old vineyards up in the Covas valley, east-facing at around 500 metres on schist, with vines between sixty and eighty years old. It is a true field blend, led by Touriga Franca and Tinta Roriz with Sousão, Alicante Bouschet and a handful of other local varieties.

The winemaking is all about freshness rather than power: fermented in stainless steel, with malolactic and around eighteen months of ageing in old barrels and wood vats - nothing new, nothing pushed. The result is the lighter-framed, old-school style both men favour, a Douro red with no hard edges. 2011 was one of the great modern Douro vintages, a year of purity and structure, so there is plenty here to reward patience.