Niepoort Vintage Port 1945 bottled in March 1948

Niepoort Vintage Port 1945 – Bottled in 1948: A monument to the Douro

The Niepoort Vintage Port 1945, bottled in March 1948, is a wine of historic significance – a liquid monument to the first post-war vintage in the Douro Valley and a testament to the extraordinary longevity of great Ports. The Niepoort estate was founded in 1842 by Franciscus Marius van der Niepoort in Vila Nova de Gaia and is now run by the fifth generation of the family, Dirk Niepoort, who is regarded as one of Portugal’s most influential winemakers.

The 1945 vintage in the Douro Valley was characterised by a dry, hot summer, with only a few showers at the end of August. The harvest began early, as early as the first half of September, and yields were low – yet the concentration and quality of the grapes were exceptional. It was the first vintage after the Second World War, and almost all producers declared the vintage. Bottling took place in Portugal in 1948, due to post-war British restrictions. The winemaking process followed the house’s traditions: the grapes – including Touriga Roriz, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Cão, Touriga Franca and Tinta Barroca – were fermented in granite lagares, followed by the early addition of wine distillate.

The tasting notes paint a picture of a wine of rare perfection. *Wine Spectator* awarded the 1945 Niepoort 97 points and noted that another port shipper had once estimated this exceptional wine to be 15 years younger. It described it as very youthful, with caressing sweet fruit aromas, a medium garnet colour with a ruby core, aromas of blackberry, black pepper and smoke, medium body, as well as sweet blackberry and liquorice notes, light tannins and a very long finish. The Tastingbook awards 99 points and describes a deep, opaque and developed colour, an intense, complex, fresh and opulent nose, and a warming, balanced, mature and full-bodied palate with blackberry, smoke, truffle, glycerine and chocolate, and an endless, expansive and pure finish. A tasting note on For The Love Of Port highlights: “On the nose, you can smell the age (a little like a hayloft) with powerful, lush red fruit. On the palate, the port is really well-balanced, round and extremely concentrated. We tasted ripe plums and figs and a hint of the aromas found in a fine old tawny port.” The taster awarded 98/100 points.

Another tasting note describes the wine as “a marvellous matured Vintage Port, still retaining its structure. Mint and cherry, although the fruit is fading. Fabulous.” And: “Widely acclaimed and overwhelmingly voted the wine of the evening”. The recommended decanting time is three hours, and the drinking window extends until 2040.

Today, the Niepoort Vintage Port 1945 is a sought-after rarity, available from specialist retailers for the equivalent of around 3,900 euros. For lovers of great port wines, it offers the rare opportunity to experience a wine that bears the hallmark of one of Portugal’s most significant winemaking families and has retained remarkable vitality and elegance after more than seven decades of ageing in the bottle.