Niepoort Batuta 2023 - Frescura, elegância e mineralidade em perfeita harmonia.Niepoort Batuta 2023 - Frescura, elegância e mineralidade em perfeita harmonia.

Niepoort Batuta 2023 is a top Douro red created by iconic producer Dirk Niepoort, renowned for its extreme elegance, freshness and minerality-focused profile.

The Wine AdvocateRP 96Reviewed by: Luis Gutiérrez

I'd already had the chance to taste a bottle or two of the 2023 Batuta before this tasting at Niepoort's cellars in Serpa Pinto, Vila Nova de Gaia, and the wine had already made a huge impression on me. It comes from the same two vineyards in Covas do Douro and had four months of maceration/infusion on the skins — but without stems — in concrete vats, followed by 18 months in wood.

This may well be one of the best Batutas ever made (although the team thinks the 2024 could be even better, though I haven't tasted it). It's a deep, ripe, juicy wine, but without any over-ripeness or exuberance. It manages to be seductive and hedonistic at the same time, while keeping a serious, elegant bearing. It shows remarkable precision, supported by extremely fine, polished, elegant tannins.

It has 13.1% alcohol, a pH of 3.57 and 5.2 g/L total acidity. 8,800 bottles were produced and it was bottled in July 2025.

I tasted these wines with Luis Pedro Silva, Niepoort's young winemaker in charge of the Douro wines. Most of the wines shown were from 2024, a less hot year, with lots of foliage and high yields. There was enough rain and the vines behaved as if they had been irrigated. However, the hot summer put them under stress because of the excess canopy and high yields, making it hard to ripen all the grapes and keep the leaves green.

The harvest was very rainy and stretched over a longer period, apparently with positive results: alcohol stayed moderate and the wines kept excellent freshness. At first these conditions favoured the Douro's still wines, though they were less suited to Port. However, the rain revived the vines, allowing the grapes destined for Port to ripen properly too.

The 2024 still wines have low alcohol and seem to be gaining volume as they age. The reds show a very floral profile, perhaps less vibrant than the 2023s, while the whites are similar to the previous vintage, if slightly rounder. About half the reds tasted were from 2023, a cooler year than 2022 with characteristics close to 2021. Both 2023 and 2024 are very approachable, enjoyable vintages from a young age.

As for 2025, it was a year of heavy rain, making vineyard work particularly challenging. Yields were low, but the grapes showed great concentration. After the harvest the rain kept on — far more than would be desirable.

The Ports were tasted with Nick Delaforce, the winemaker in charge of the Vale do Mendiz winery, where Niepoort makes its Ports. The house is releasing different vintages in several categories, but the highlight was the new 2024 Vintage. It's the first general declaration since 2022, as most producers didn't declare a Vintage in 2023.

Niepoort's portfolio differs from that of most major producers: around 60% is special categories and only 40% entry-level wines, when the norm in the sector is the exact opposite. The remaining 1976 Colheita was also bottled, described by Gutiérrez as a truly magical wine.

Published: 16 April 2026.