Niepoort Redoma Branco 2022

The 2019 Redoma Branco is a field blend from old vines featuring Rabigato, Códega, Viosinho, Donzelinho and others, aged for six months in 20% new French oak. It comes in very dry and at just 12.2% alcohol. This is another super Redoma Branco, which is easily one of the very best values in the Niepoort lineup every year. It's never a big and fat wine, so if that's what you're looking for, look away. It has wonderfully expressive fruit and a subtle concentration that is impressive, however. Plus, it has beautiful structure and persistent but controlled tension on the finish. It's always bright, never shrill, and it handles the modest wood well. There is a slight smoked-toast nuance, but not a lot. It's something to watch, or give this some air. This is a lot of wine for the money if you like the fresh and understated style. Niepoort always says these will age for a couple of decades. It probably will, but let's take that in stages. His track record of saying such things and backing it up has been pretty good, though, and I have seen some nicely developed and intriguing ones. There were 60,000 bottles produced from old vines (60 to 80 years).

The 2018 Redoma Branco is a field blend from old vines featuring Rabigato, Códega, Viosinho, Donzelinho and others, aged for six months in 40% new French barriques. It comes in very dry and at just 11.8% alcohol. This is, said Niepoort, the best in the brand so far. That's strong praise, but he may well be right. This certainly seems poised to make a statement. Textured, intense and very bright, this crisp white does have some oak-impact that reduces the purity for the moment, but it is the structure, power and long finish that impresses here. The wine easily shoves the wood into the background. It is beautifully balanced and able to age effortlessly. They always do, in fact, but this will be among the better ones in that regard. This should develop better than anticipated, but let's be a little conservative now. No matter what, this is a super value this year.