Charme Tinto
⏳ Drinking Window
Typically best enjoyed 5 to 15 years from the vintage release, though exceptional vintages can easily cellar for 20 years or more.
🍽️ Food & Wine Pairings
Roasted duck, wild mushroom risotto, roasted pheasant
✨ Technical Specifications
Dirk Niepoort’s Charme is an extraordinary interpretation of the Douro Valley, born from a desire to create a wine of supreme elegance and lightness in a region typically known for robust, powerful reds. Inspired by the great wines of Burgundy, Charme is crafted from field-blend grapes sourced from very old, north-facing vineyards in the Vale de Mendiz, where cooler microclimates preserve acidity. The winemaking is incredibly unique and delicate: the grapes are foot-trodden in traditional granite lagares with 100% stems, but the maceration is kept extremely short to prevent over-extraction of color and heavy tannins. The wine is then transferred to French oak barrels to complete fermentation and age. The result is a wine of ethereal complexity, showing red fruit, earthy minerals, and silky, seamless tannins that defy the rugged Douro terroir.
🍾 About the Producer
Established in 1842 by Franciscus Marius van der Niepoort, Niepoort has evolved from a venerable family-run Port shipper into one of the most visionary and influential forces in Portuguese viticulture. Guided by fifth-generation iconoclast Dirk Niepoort alongside his son Daniel, the estate has redefined Douro winemaking by championing terroir-driven, lower-alcohol dry table wines alongside monumental fortified expressions. Sourcing fruit from steep, schistose terraces in the Cima Corgo as well as granitic and clay-limestone soils across Dão, Bairrada, Vinho Verde, and the volcanic slopes of Pico, viticulture prioritizes biodiversity, old field blends, and biodynamic principles. Winemaking emphasizes minimal cellar intervention, whole-bunch fermentations, and traditional foot-treading in granite lagares. Celebrated benchmarks span legendary, ethereal Colheitas and Vintage Ports to nuanced dry still icons such as Redoma, Batuta, Charme, and Quinta de Baixo’s Gonçalves Faria, all defined by remarkable mineral tension, textural finesse, and age-worthy elegance.
🍇 Grapes
Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cão