2021 Niepoort Napoles Bastardo, Douro, Portugal La Spinona The hillside is a bit

The hillside is a bit warmer than Thörnich

) While "rosé season" is 365 days a year in this house

He does not punch down the reds or use batonnage for the whites and he rarely racks the wines

Soil: Steep terraces of Schist with calcareous marls and clay

after which point it is racked and aged six months in cement and given an additional year of rest in bottle before release

2021 Niepoort Napoles Bastardo, Douro, Portugal La Spinona The hillside is a bitBastardo is a grape variety which can be found in the old vineyards of the Douro Valley. Known as Trousseau in the French Jura region, it is a variety which has a short growth cycle, ripens early, and is normally used for increasing sugar levels in the musts produced from grapes growing in colder areas. The idea behind this Bastardo was to try to tame the rustic character of the variety and to tease out its elegant and fresh side. Niepoort