Fabelhaft 2018

The colour is medium purple. On the nose black cherries mixed with some tea. In the mouth light, with smooth but well present tannins and a pleasant acidity. Fairly long finish. Not really to my taste, but an enjoyable, easy to drink wine that delivers good value.

Fabelhaft is a very successful story. In 2004 Dirk Niepoort and his designer Cordula Allesandri launched a project to produce an appealing label for the german market, with the aim to bring Duoro wines closer to the German wine consumers. Wilhem Busch storyboard label and the name Fabelhaft was the result. After the success in German speaking markets, Niepoort began to develop labels for other countries as well.

Fabelhaft is a blend of typical Douro varieties: Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo) and some Tinta Amarela. The annual production of this wine is now typically 800’000 bottles.

Traditionally, Niepoort has been a small fine port wine producer. It is a family business founded in 1842. Today, Dirk Niepoort runs the company with his sister Verena in the 5th generation. Since joining the company in 1987, Dirk has been focusing on developing table wines.

This bottle sells at Coop for 16.50 CHF, but it is sold at most retailers and is often on sale.

Country: Portugal
Region: Douro
Grapes: Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Amarela
Type: Red
Vintage: 2018
Producer: Niepoort
Price range: Medium (15-30 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 3/5