Vertente

Vertente is the way into Niepoort's Douro reds, the most accessible of the house's dry wines and the introduction to the range that builds up to Redoma, Batuta and Charme. The name means slope or hillside, a nod to the terraced ground of the Douro. It draws on two kinds of fruit - the vines of Quinta de Nápoles for youthful freshness and old vines on the slopes of the Pinhão river for elegance - where Touriga Franca, Tinta Amarela and Rufete lead the blend, with Tinta Roriz and other local varieties alongside, all rooted in schist.

True to the Niepoort style, it is built for finesse rather than weight: fermented in stainless steel, then matured around twenty-two months in French oak barriques, most of it seasoned, so the wood stays a frame rather than a flavour. The result is a fresh, mineral, medium-bodied Douro red - graphite and violet, sour cherry, rhubarb and a lick of mint, with lively acidity and fine-grained tannins. 2022 was the driest year of the century in the Douro and the earliest harvest on record, yet the wine keeps its freshness and fine structure rather than tipping into heat or weight.