Personalities

Dirk Niepoort: «My beliefs are traditional»
Drinks plus №10 December 2008

The independent family shipper Niepoort has been making Port since 1842.

Nowadays Dirk Niepoort in the fifth generation of the winemaking dynasty continues the company’s traditions. He produces some of the best Ports in several categories, as well as earned reputation of a leading Portuguese producer of dry wines.

– You come from a reputable winemaking family, but how did your path to wine start?

– I studied economics in Switzerland and I worked for Movenpick. That’s where I found my love for wine — thanks to the internal company wine book and two directors who somehow looked after me. I volunteered to help with tastings. The first tasting I attended was Petrus, the second was Guigal. After Switzerland I went to California where I worked cleaning tanks at Cuvaison during the 1986 harvest, then I did other little jobs. In 1987 I started working with my father.

– So before you were not sure if you would continue your father’s business?

– Not until I read that book. When I read it, I fell in love with it. I don’t know what exactly was written there, but after reading the book I went to a wine shop. I didn’t like to spend money at that time, but was really willing to spend a fortune on a bottle of wine by my parameters — something like 25 Swiss francs, or 15 euros. From reading the book I thought that Chateau Petrus would be the wine that I should like. So I asked the shop if they had Petrus. They said yes and asked which vintage. Of course, I didn’t know that there were differences between vintages. Then the prices were frighteningly high — 200, 300, 500 francs… I got a bit nervous and I asked if they had Chateau Yquem, because it sounded from the book that I would like it, too. The same story. So I got out of the shop, of course, I didn’t buy anything. I was totally shocked how someone would pay so much money for a bottle of wine. This is when I started volunteering for the tastings so that I could taste the wine.

– What happened when you started working with your father?

– The first and important thing was that I convinced my father to buy a vineyard. Thus we bought the first vineyard in 1987. Before we had been buying base wines from growers.

– Did you then have a good idea of how to make wine?

– Not really, because I never learnt how to make wine. But I had ideas. When I was in California, there were two winemakers who explained me a lot of things. Though I didn’t know much about wine, but I thought we should have own vineyards. So we bought one vineyard, then another one in 1988 which is really important now because it’s the backbone of the Batuta. So this was my start.

– Unlike your father’s experience, you first wines were dry table, not Ports.

– Because we were negociants, we didn’t own vineyards or make wines. We bought base wines. There was no history of producing dry table wines in Douro, so it was a funny idea of me to start wanting to make them. It was done behind my father’s back. He didn’t understand the idea, we didn’t have much money so I had to do with very little means. In 1990 I made wine from the second vineyard we had bought and suddenly found out that it was really good, better than anything I had tried before. I suddenly started getting interested in the north facing, rather than south facing, vineyards. I realised that the most important thing was to separate vineyards for Port and wine production. My first wine made1990 was called Robustus. I always had this idea that my first wine had to be a monster and then it would become more elegant with age. That indeed happened. The wines are getting better with each vintage in the sense of more elegance.

– Did you have a market for dry wines at once?

– No. My first commercial vintage was 1991. That was a good experience because it sold quite well. The second vintage released on the market was 1994, as I didn’t like the quality of two previous years. Selling wine started to become more and more important, also in export markets. In 1999 I sort of pushed my father in the corner — either we stop making dry wines or invest to make them better. The answer was obvious, I didn’t wait for it. So in 1999 I hired a winemaker and we bought some barrels, tanks, equipment.

I see three phases in our development for dry wines. First vineyards and wines were rustic, we didn’t have enough means and did what we could to make something decent. Considering the conditions in which the wine was made, I think it was at times amazingly good. The second phase arrived in 1999 when we hired a winemaker who helped a lot. I started traveling more around the world and had a lot to do anyway, so it was really important to have someone look after the wines. There were also other changes. Instead of making wine in the Douro and aging it in Vila Nova di Gaia, the whole process from aging to bottling was transferred to the Douro. There were lots of little steps of quality. The last stage started in 2004. I decided to go totally my way — to do what I was doing before and to go natural. Since 2004 we don’t use chemicals in the winery — no yeasts, no enzymes, no tannins. I thought I was committing a big risk. But apart from saving 20,000 euros worth of chemicals, we got rid of many production problems — no stuck fermentations, purer and better wines. So it has been a very positive change. I also changed the winemaker. We are getting along very well with the new one, and I think we are improving wines every year.

– So far we spoke only about dry wines. What about Ports — after all this is where tradition and fame of your family comes from.

– It’s more peaceful there because Port was there and continues to be, and the idea is only to fine tune it. At one stage the big news was that I bought Quinta do Passadouro together with a Belgian businessman, developed the quinta and made all Niepoort Port there. My dream was to make one pipe which would be better than of other winemakers. In 1994 each Port I made was better than others’. That made me think about the subject and I started to understand that maybe I am doing something right.

So we don’t work as a negociant anymore except for one grower from whom we are still buying for sentimental reasons.

In 2003 I bought an old vinification centre, and since 2004 we are make our Ports there. By the way, this place is unique. There is a round lagares there, the only one in the world. It is very beautiful. With Port, we make everything in a traditional way. I believe that in Port there is history, there is tradition, and I want to keep this idea. On the other side, there is no good tradition in dry table wines, so I make whatever I think is right, and don’t want to confuse these two directions.

– Niepoort Port has an especially strong reputation in tawny and garrafeira categories.

– I don’t agree. I think we are also good in Vintage Port. But because the decision what is a good vintage is decided by the English and nobody seems to be able to get into the English market, the situation is a bit difficult. Nowadays we can consider ourselves one of the top five.

– What are the main quality factors for Port?

– The answer is very boring — it’s vineyards. They really make the difference. Another secret is that between 40 and 60 percent of our Ports are foot trodden. It is a much more expensive way to do it, but I think it’s the best way to crush grapes. We leave stems, and human feet work better than machines. Machines tend to hurt stems, and bitter sap gets into wine. There aren’t many secrets. I think the fine tuning makes the greatest difference.

– Nowadays some consider Ports as old fashioned. Why you — a young, creative, innovative winemaker — continue to work in this niche?

– Because I am very traditional in my head. Journalists call me enfant terrible and similar things, but in reality I am not like that. I am very simple in my approach. I believe that old people did many good things. I am trying to understand what they did at all and what they did correctly. I’m trying to combine that with possibilities we have nowadays. Strange enough it seems to be revolutionary thinking. Most people seem to throw away the old and re-invent everything which I think is the silliest thing in the world. Three hundred years of empiric knowledge is thrown away like that. Once you’ve thrown something away, you can’t get it back. So I am only trying to combine the two things.

Port for me is one of the best wines in the world. I really like drinking it, as well as making it. The ultimate challenge is to make Vintage Port. Funny enough, to make Port is the simplest thing in the world, but to make a great Vintage Port is much more difficult than a great wine.

– What is greatness in Port?

– A great Port has got to be powerful, but have harmony. It shouldn’t be too fruity. It should have a lot of tannin, but not be disgustingly aggressive. A secret of a great wine, as well as a great Port, is the harmony between elements. So we have to play between the sweetness, the tannin, the structure, the palate and make something which is as perfect as possible. And then I have this un-modern idea that wine should be fantastic in 50 years, and not only in the next 5 years.

– Which of the Vintage Ports you made you consider the best?

– Vintage 2005. But I said the same thing about 2003 and 2000... Let’s say I am learning something new every year, but this wine is a bit different from any Vintage Port I know. I’ve had this discussion with a few people because they think that it won’t age. I am convinced it will age very well. It’s true it’s not as monumental as 2003. It’s not what you expect from a young Vintage Port with its aggression and tannins, but there’s everything in it. What I like particularly about it is the perfection of balance. You can spend hours smelling and tasting and you get more and more out of it. It’s not an obvious wine. It’s the wine you have to commit to and spend some time looking at it.

– Like a good work of art?

– Yes, there is the same logic behind it.