2012 Niepoort Merlot Bairrada Quinta de Baixo

Community Tasting Notes (1) Avg Score: 87 points

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  4/6/2023 - forceberry wrote: 87 Points

  This is the first vintage ever of Quinta de Baixo Merlot. The fruit is sourced from a 20-yo, one-hectare vineyard that was harvested in mid-September, after a very dry summer. 80% of the fruit was destemmed and then vinified in a traditional lagar with gentle foot pressing. The wine was fermented and aged for 20 months in old French oak barriques, then blended together in vats. Bottled in June 2015. 13,5% alcohol, 1,9 g/l residual sugar, 6,08 g/l acidity, 0,55 g/l volatile acidity, and 49 mg/l total SO2. Total production 2700 bottles.
  
  Relatively youthful, luminous and somewhat translucent dark cherry red color. The nose feels savory, quite evolved and even subtly oxidative with aromas of earthy spices and beef jerky, some pruney notes of dried red plums, a little bit of tobacco, light smoky nuances and a hint of meat stew. The wine feels juicy, mellow and silky smooth on the palate with a full body and rich, rather tertiary flavors of ripe dark fruits and evolved gamey tones, some pruney notes, a little bit of oxidative soy sauce character, light earthy nuances, a hint of tobacco and a touch of beef jerky. The wine is medium in acidity with moderately grippy medium-plus tannins. The finish is long, savory and quite tertiary with rather grippy tannins and a complex, slightly oxidative aftertaste of tobacco of wizened red plums, some gamey tones, a little bit of soy sauce, light earthy nuances, a hint of dried dark fruits and a touch of smoke.
  
  An enjoyable but also surprisingly evolved and even slightly oxidative Bairrada Merlot. If we didn't have a prematurely aged bottle but instead one that was representative of the vintage, I must warn you - this wine is not fit for further aging. It is either at its peak now, or slightly past it. The wine is still fully enjoyable, but I'd enjoy if it showed a little bit less tertiary qualities. The acidity feels surprisingly soft, considering the wine is +6 g/l in acidity, but at least the firm and chewy, somewhat rustic tannins lend good sense of firmness and structure to the wine. All in all, a nice little drop, albeit one with relatively little age ahead. Maybe a bit pricey for the current quality at approx. 25€.

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