Niepoort

The Niepoort family has been trading Port since 1842, when Franciscus Marius Niepoort, a Dutch merchant born in 1813 in Hilversum, moved to Portugal and founded the company that bears his name. He owned neither land nor vineyards; his foothold in Porto came from his know-how as a Port salesman. He married Francisca Louisa Elisabeth Ehlers and died in Porto on 7 March 1887. The second generation, Eduard Karel Jackob, kept the business flourishing. The third generation, Eduard Marius Niepoort, took over at 22 after his father's death, brought an avid scientific interest to the role, and retired near age 90 to focus on his lifelong collecting hobby. The fourth generation, Eduard Rudolf van der Niepoort, known as Rolf, saved the firm from a financial crisis and prized the 1970 Vintage Port above all others. Niepoort remained a pure Port negociant, buying base wines from Douro growers, until 1987, when Rolf's son Eduard Dirk van der Niepoort, born in March 1964, joined the business and convinced his father to buy Quinta de Napoles and, a year later, Quinta do Carril. Dirk had no formal winemaking or oenology training.

• Founded 1842 by Franciscus Marius Niepoort, born 1813 in Hilversum, Holland; died in Porto on 7 March 1887
• 2nd generation Eduard Karel Jackob and 3rd generation Eduard Marius Niepoort (took over at 22, retired near 90) kept the Port trading business running for over a century
• 4th generation Rolf (Eduard Rudolf van der Niepoort) saved the firm from a financial crisis; Dirk, the 5th generation, joined him in 1987 with no formal oenology training
• Until 1987 Niepoort owned no vineyards, buying and blending base Port wines from Douro growers in its Vila Nova de Gaia cellars

Niepoort's own site lists 62 hectares of organic vineyards in the Douro, split between Quinta de Napoles and Quinta do Carril in the Cima Corgo subregion. Quinta de Napoles, on the left bank of the Tedo River, was the first estate Niepoort bought, in 1987; per Niepoort's own site it is one of the oldest quintas in the region, with historical records dating back to 1756. Quinta do Carril was added a year later, in 1988. A secondary account from the Douro Boys collective describes both properties as neglected for decades at acquisition, with 15 hectares needing complete replanting and 10 hectares of vines older than 70 years preserved; Niepoort's own site instead describes preserving 'the 60-year-old vineyards' for the same event. Quinta do Carril's 60-year-old vines now supply grapes for Batuta, Redoma, Bioma, Vertente and the original Robustus. Since the 2007 harvest, four years after the Douro Boys collective was founded, Niepoort's dry wines have been vinified in a landmark cellar at Quinta de Napoles designed by architect Andreas Burghardt, built in nine months after nine years of planning. Port wines are made separately at Vale de Mendiz in the Pinhao Valley, a former museum Niepoort bought in 2003 and converted into a winery with ancient round granite lagar tanks; Charme, the house's only unfortified wine made at that facility, is crafted there with a nod to Burgundy.

• 62 hectares of organic Douro vineyards across Quinta de Napoles (bought 1987) and Quinta do Carril (bought 1988), Cima Corgo subregion, left bank of the Tedo River
• Quinta de Napoles has historical records dating back to 1756, per Niepoort's own site; roughly 15 hectares needed replanting at acquisition, with older vines preserved
• New cellar at Quinta de Napoles, designed by architect Andreas Burghardt, in use since the 2007 harvest for dry wines
• Vale de Mendiz, a former museum in the Pinhao Valley bought in 2003, is the cradle of Niepoort's Port wines, made in round granite lagar tanks; Charme is the only unfortified wine made there

Dirk's first red wine, Robustus 1990, was made from Quinta do Carril fruit off an old, north-facing vineyard planted in 1925. Critics called it 'unfit to drink' for its strong tannins and acidity, and it never reached the market; of the five pipes made, Dirk's father sold off most of it while Dirk was in Australia in 1991, leaving one pipe that yielded 630 bottles and 45 magnums. Wine critic Michael Broadbent, tasting it, reportedly described it as 'the Latour of Portugal.' Redoma followed in 1991 as Niepoort's first table wine to actually reach the market, with a white and, in 1999, a rose version added later. Niepoort's most famous wines also include Batuta, first released from the 1999 vintage off the oldest north-facing vines of Quinta do Carril, and Vertente, later joined by Charme and the white Coche. In the late 1990s Dirk hired winemaker Jorge Serodio Borges to assist him; Jorge's first vintage was 1999, the same debut year as Batuta. The partnership deteriorated and Jorge left in 2003, after which Dirk hired Luis Seabra as his replacement. Dirk has described his winemaking philosophy as wanting 'wines with extremes, as rich and tannic as possible, but they have to have harmony.'

• Robustus 1990, from 1925-planted Quinta do Carril vines, called 'unfit to drink' by critics and never released; 630 bottles and 45 magnums survived from a single pipe
• Redoma (1991) was Niepoort's first table wine to reach the market; a white and, in 1999, a rose version followed
• Batuta debuted with the 1999 vintage from Quinta do Carril's oldest north-facing vines; Vertente, Charme and the white Coche later joined the range
• Winemaker Jorge Serodio Borges assisted Dirk from the late 1990s until 2003, when Luis Seabra took over as his replacement

Dirk first made and sold wine in Bairrada between 1992 and 1996, inspired by the Dores Simoes house; in 2010 he crafted 2000 litres of red wine at what would become Quinta de Baixo, and bought the 22-hectare farm in 2012. Quinta de Baixo spans 14 hectares across three plots aged 10 to 80 years, planted mainly to Baga, with a small plot of Syrah under a hectare in size. In the Dao, Dirk acquired Quinta da Lomba in 2012 to save five hectares of vines older than 60 years from being uprooted; for the first two years Niepoort bought grapes from local farmers, vinified by family friend Alvaro de Castro at Quinta da Pellada, before building its own winery and releasing its first Dao wine, Rotulo, from its own fruit starting with the 2014 vintage. Niepoort's first Vinho Verde wines followed in 2016: Wana Bi, made with Regina Pessoa from Casa de Vilar fruit; Teppo Peixe, made to pair with Japanese cuisine; and OLO, from the Basto subregion and named for the Olo River. Internationally, the Fio Wines project on Germany's Mosel is led by Dirk's sons Daniel (heading it since 2012) and Marco, alongside German partner Phillip Kettern of the Lothar Kettern estate; Fio Wines won Gault & Millau's 'Discovery of the Year' in 2020 for Riesling bottlings including Ratzelhaft, Falkerberg and Cabisehrnett. In Austria's Carnuntum region Dirk is a partner in the estate Muhr-van der Niepoort. In the Alentejo, he collaborates with Anna Jorgensen of Cortes de Cima, chef-turned-winemaker Vitor Claro, and longtime Douro collaborator Susana Esteban.

• Bairrada: Quinta de Baixo bought 2012 (14ha, mostly Baga, three plots aged 10-80 years); Dirk's Bairrada winemaking dates to 1992-1996
• Dao: Quinta da Lomba acquired 2012 to save 5ha of 60-plus-year-old vines; own-fruit winemaking began with the 2014 vintage under the Rotulo label
• Vinho Verde: first releases in 2016, Wana Bi, Teppo Peixe and OLO
• Mosel (Fio Wines, with sons Daniel and Marco, and Phillip Kettern; Gault & Millau Discovery of the Year 2020), Austria (Muhr-van der Niepoort, Carnuntum) and Alentejo collaborations round out the portfolio

Dirk van der Niepoort is currently the fifth generation to lead the family company; his children, the sixth generation, are Daniel (born 1992), Marco (born 1995) and Ana (born 2004). Daniel has been actively involved in the family business since 2020, particularly in winemaking, while Marco manages Niepoort's German-market ties through the Mosel Fio project. The Nogueira family has worked alongside the Niepoorts as Master Blenders for five generations, a role currently held by Jose Rodrigo Nogueira da Silva after his father Jose Maia Nogueira da Silva worked at Niepoort for over 50 years and mentored Dirk; the lineage traces to Manuel Nogueira da Rocha and Jose Nogueira da Rocha in 1856 and 1893, and Jose Nogueira da Silva in 1918. Following a 2018 shift in ownership at the firm, Niepoort announced a new winemaking team for its dry wines: Carlos Raposo left the winemaking role (continuing as a consultant on Vinho Verde), and Luis Pedro Candido and Marco Niepoort, then 22, took charge of the wines other than Port. Port production continued unchanged, made mostly at Vale de Mendiz by a team led by Nick Delaforce, with master blender Rodrigo Nogueira continuing to oversee blending and aging. Niepoort was a founding member of the Douro Boys collective in 2003, alongside Quinta do Vallado, Quinta do Crasto, Quinta do Vale Meao and Quinta Vale D. Maria; in 2024 Cristiano van Zeller of Quinta Vale D. Maria stepped back from the group's promotional events, leaving Quinta do Vallado, Niepoort, Quinta do Crasto and Quinta do Vale Meao as the collective's active winemaking members, all still family-run. According to Wine Spectator, the Niepoort brand produces approximately 150,000 cases a year of Port and table wines combined.

• 6th generation: Daniel (b. 1992), Marco (b. 1995) and Ana Niepoort (b. 2004); Daniel active in winemaking since 2020, Marco leading the Mosel Fio project
• Nogueira family has served as Master Blenders for five generations; Jose Rodrigo Nogueira da Silva holds the role today, after his father's 50-plus years at the house
• 2018: dry-wine winemaking team changed to Luis Pedro Candido and Marco Niepoort (then 22); Port production unchanged, led by Nick Delaforce with master blender Rodrigo Nogueira
• Founding Douro Boys member since 2003 with Quinta do Vallado, Quinta do Crasto, Quinta do Vale Meao and Quinta Vale D. Maria; Cristiano van Zeller (Quinta Vale D. Maria) stepped back from group events in 2024

Garrafeira is a vintage-dated Port style aged first in wood for three to six years, then decanted into large glass demijohns for further aging, sometimes for more than 50 years. Niepoort's own demijohns, seven to eleven litres apiece, were obtained by Dirk's great-grandfather in the late 19th century; they were originally produced in Flensburg, Germany around 1780, and nearly 200 of them line a wall of the Niepoort cellar in Gaia. On record, the style has been produced only eight times: 1931, 1933, 1940, 1948, 1950, 1952, 1967 and 1977. According to Dirk Niepoort, Niepoort was, at the time he described it to a visiting taster, the only firm still making this category of Port. Visitors can experience the house at two sites: the historic cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia and Porto, where old Port wines are stored and where Dirk learned patience from fourth-generation Master Blender Jose Nogueira, and Quinta de Napoles in the Douro, one of the region's oldest wine estates. Dirk's work built an international reputation: in 2018 German culinary magazine Der Feinschmecker named him Winegrower of the Year at its Wine Awards gala, its jury calling him 'the most innovative and most successful grower' in the Douro despite his having never studied oenology or trained formally as a winemaker.

• Garrafeira Port: aged 3-6 years in wood, then in glass demijohns (7-11 litres) for decades; per Dirk Niepoort, Niepoort was the only firm still making the style at the time he described it
• Niepoort's Garrafeira demijohns date to circa 1780 (Flensburg, Germany); the style has been produced only eight recorded times, from 1931 to 1977
• Two visitor sites: the Vila Nova de Gaia/Porto cellars and Quinta de Napoles in the Douro
• Named Winegrower of the Year by Der Feinschmecker's Wine Awards, announced 17 May 2018, despite no formal oenology training

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.niepoort.pt/en/, https://www.niepoort.pt/en/timelesshouse, https://www.niepoort.pt/en/niepoortland, https://www.niepoort.pt/en/places. Secondary sources: https://www.douroboys.com/the-douro-boys/, https://www.douroboys.com/niepoort/, https://www.foodandwinegazette.com/8796 (Food and Wine Gazette, 17 May 2018), https://www.winespectator.com/articles/change-in-the-air-at-niepoort (Wine Spectator, 24 Aug 2018), https://www.wineanorak.com/dirk_van_der_niepoort.htm (wineanorak.com, Jamie Goode), https://www.fortheloveofport.com/the-colheita-garrafeira-and-vintage-ports-of-niepoort/ (For the Love of Port). Last verified 2026-09-14. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs. Where independent secondary sources disagree with each other and the site is silent (for example, the exact first vintage of white Redoma, reported variously as 1993, 1995 and 1997 by different outlets), the specific figure has been omitted rather than asserted. Spot something off? Submit a correction: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdM0MsYoQFCpXb4qbSPVM2TBRuC2624pOhrffs7IGhpfGCCQA/viewform