Niepoort 'Nat'Cool' Trudy Ruby Port 1000ml

This is a bright, slinky Ruby Port with dark chocolate, cedar and graphite nuances to its succulent fresh fruits of the forest. It is a vinous, buoyant Ruby Port. 9,000 litre bottles produced. 19.3%, with 104g/l residual sugar. Drink 2022-2026

Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Francisca, Tinta Amarela, Sousão,Tinta Roriz and other

Niepoort’s four Ruby Ports are foot trodden and fermented in lagares, then aged in well topped up balseiros (big format old wooden vats) in Niepoort’s cool lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia. The average age of these non- vintage blends is around three years old. Nick Delaforce, Niepoort’s Port winemaker, describes the differences between them as small but important. For Trudy, he says, “age is perhaps not so important as the quality/ style of the components which are selected always trying to highlight the primary fruit (dark fruits) quality in a non-exuberant way.” The primary source is Vale de Mendiz which, says Nick, “gives us elegance and a silky seductive character, whilst early picking gives freshness and all-important acid nerve.” Where Niepoort’s Nat Cool label is all about drinkability, the goal is for the primary fruit to dominate, whilst any suggestion of ‘spirity characters’ (alcohol) is subdued. “If you drink Trudy and you are confused thinking it’s not Port wine, then perhaps we have achieved the aim of Trudy,” he concludes.

Serve 14 -16°C