Niepoort Coche white 2023

The Wine Defender
PR 97

Luis Gutiérrez: The newly bottled Coche 2023, their grand cru, comes from two or three vineyards in the Murça region. It's more austere and fresh, produced like the Redoma Reserva, but using barrels specific to a particular forest and type of toast, 30% of which are new. It underwent full malolactic fermentation and a year of élevage (maturation) in these barrels, then stabilized for four months in stainless steel tanks. I was singing along when I tasted it.

It displays the serious, reductive character that is a constant here, with spicy, smoky, and mineral notes, with hints of cool smoke, dried flowers, and herbal tea, as well as a dry, serious, and chalky mouthfeel. It reminds me of the excellent 2021, with austerity, restrained maturation, great precision and purity, intense and persistent. 10,000 bottles were produced. It was bottled in February 2024.

I tasted primarily the 2023 whites and 2022 reds with the young team of Luis Pedro and Daniel Niepoort. 2023 was a great vintage for them, though not as exceptional as 2021. It was a balanced year in the Douro, with good spring rains, which ensured water availability in the soil. The summer was milder than in 2022, and the harvest was long, with a few heatwaves (when the vineyards stopped ripening twice) and some rain at the end (not so good for Port), so they proceeded slowly and carefully.

The resulting wines have moderate alcohol content and good freshness, being a little more rounded and accessible than the 2021s, with less structure and softer acidity.

Published on: April 17, 2025.