Winemaker Notes
Golden in color, exhibiting a complex aroma of dried fruits dominated by orange peel and dried figs, as well as walnuts and roasted almonds. A floral touch completes the aroma. On the palate it is very fine and balanced, with a vibrant acidity balancing its sweet character, interacting with the fortifying spirit to perfection and giving the wine a superb structure.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Aged in small 550L old oak casks in Niepoort’s cellars at Vila Nova de Gaia, this svelte 10-year-old has detail and an appetizing, salty edge to its dried plum, pear, apricot and candied citrus palate. Hints of chinato herbs, iodine, walnut and cassia bark add interest. Light on its feet, with an elegant, uplifting finish.
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James Suckling
Aromas of leather and subtle caramel with herbal, botanical and oxidative undertones. The palate is elegant, full-bodied, velvety, very round and pleasant, with underlying freshness and a long, persistent, textural finish that lingers. This is made from old parcels of white varieties.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2022 bottling of the NV 10 Year Old Tawny Port still has signs of youth and some ruby/red color in it, with notes of cherries in liqueur intermixed with nuts and spice, with lots of depth and complexity. I think the 10 year old is a category that is somewhere in between, still a little young but with some development and good complexity.
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Wine Spectator
A charming style, with pretty dried cherry, bergamot and warm fruit cake flavors forming an expressive and inviting core. On the sweeter side of the spectrum, but with the freshness for balance. Drink now.
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Wine Enthusiast
A finely balanced wine that combines rich red fruit flavors with acidity, a slight tang from the spirit and a feeling of warmth and roundness. It finishes with an almond note and fresh acidity.
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F. To learn more, see our full Port Wine Guide
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.