Douro wine at the table. Daniel Niepoort and a kitchen full of surprises.

Six generations, one restless family

Daniel Niepoort is the sixth generation of a Port house, working alongside his sister and brother, and with his father still very much in the picture. Their roots are in Port, but the family began making dry Douro wines decades ago, after buying vineyards there with the grandfather's blessing. Today Niepoort also makes still wines in Dão and Bairrada and even in Germany's Mosel.

Daniel describes a working relationship built on freedom. His father lets him try things, even when he disagrees, and some experiments do not survive, like a very light Port that his father felt looked far too much like a rosé. The point, as Andreas says, is to keep pushing boundaries and learning.

Old vines, field blends and freshness

The heart of the Niepoort style is old, mixed vineyards. Daniel says they work with more than 70 varieties planted together, and he has no wish to know every one or to replace them with Touriga Nacional, Cabernet or Merlot. In a field blend, one variety brings freshness, another body, another aromatics, which gives a complexity that a single grape rarely can.

The red he pours is Charme, a pale, silky Douro wine his father first made about 20 years ago, inspired by his love of Burgundian Pinot Noir. It is the elegant counterpart to the more structured Batuta. Behind both is a family motto: make the wines you like, then find the people who share your taste. Daniel's own Nat Cool wines take that idea further, with low extraction and low alcohol for a younger, more relaxed way of drinking.

White beans, mackerel and green herb oil

Daniel starts by opening a blend from Dão and Bairrada, from granite and chalky soils, that he rates among the best wines of Portugal and that ages beautifully. For it Andreas cooks a Portuguese inspired seafood dish in the spirit of a feijoada de marisco: white beans simmered in seafood stock with prawns and grilled mackerel finished in butter, then lifted with a green curry style oil of Thai basil, coriander and mint, with ginger, garlic, lime and green chili in the mix.

Andreas loves the slightly exotic side of Portuguese cooking, with lime and coriander showing a history of trade with faraway lands. The wine's freshness and citrus, herbal notes meet the green spice head on, and it has enough intensity for the richness of the fish.

A fortified mystery, answered with savory food

Then comes the blind bottle. Andreas finds dried fig, prune, caramel, toffee, roasted hazelnut, tobacco and clove, with powerful, beautifully balanced sweetness. He refuses to make a sweet dessert. Instead he builds a quick chicken liver pâté with butter, crème fraîche and a splash of the wine itself, served with figs and pistachios.

His reasoning is a useful rule: many sweet and fortified wines shine more with savory dishes than with desserts, because creaminess, meatiness and a little fruit sweetness frame the wine's complexity. Daniel adds a family story about his grandfather serving vintage Port with pepper steak to important clients. See whether Andreas can pin down the wine, and how close he gets to the vintage.

Douro pairing tips

Fresh, high altitude Douro reds and whites work well with fish, beans and herb-driven dishes. Older fortified styles love nuts, liver pâté and cheese. And for something simple, Daniel remembers the roadside taverns between Porto and the Douro, where wine is poured into little mugs. Stay to the end for the memory game, where the classic Port and Stilton pairing makes an appearance.

Go furtherWant to taste along? Find Niepoort’s wines and where to buy them near you on Wine-Searcher.