Quinta de Naples opens its doors to wine tourists and receives competition from the Tomate Coração de Boi Festival

Quinta de Naples, owned by the Niepoort family, is one of the oldest properties in the Douro demarcated region and has just opened its doors to the public. Wine enthusiasts can now take guided tours of the property that include lunch with the team and a visit to the cellar where all the brand’s Port and Douro DOC wine references are produced. This project thus reinforces Niepoort’s strong commitment to this aspect of wine tourism, which began with the opening to the public of Caves Serpa Pinto, Niepoort’s cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia, and one of the ex-libris of the project.

Quinta de Naples, located on the left bank of the Tedo River, presents the ideal conditions for the production of fresh, elegant DOC table wines with an extraordinary aromatic complexity. It works as an important meeting, tasting and sharing center with other consumers and producers around the world. It is equipped with a fully modern cellar and with generous cellars for aging in vats, barrels, stainless steel and clay. Those who visit this Quinta in the Douro can enjoy lunch with the team at ‘This is not a restaurant’, which as the name implies proposes an informal and irreverent experience, which provides lunch with the workers, accompanied by homemade flavors and references. of the brand produced in different regions of Portugal, on a porch overlooking the Douro valley and its terraces of schist and wood. «A visit to Quinta de Naples provides a journey through Portugal, getting to know the best that our oenology team has developed in the main national wine regions and the philosophy that guides the Niepoort house, quality and irreverence», explains Beatriz Machado, director of Niepoort’s Marketing and Tourism department.

Niepoort’s wine tourism thus includes different programs for different audiences and occasions, with the thread of a privileged and unique wine experience in the country and in the world. These programs can be experienced at Quinta de Naples and at the Niepoort cellars, in Vila Nova de Gaia, the latter with 180 years dedicated to Port Wine. Serpa Pinto is the ‘guardian of knowledge’ that has been passed from generation to generation: a magical place, where wines age at the speed of other times, and where some of Niepoort’s most iconic references come from.

In this Serpa Pinto space, there are three visit options. The Niepoortland program suggests a visit and tasting of four wines, not only from the Douro, but also from other wine regions such as Dão, Bairrada and Porto, where the renowned Niepoort develops projects. The Visit and Tasting of six Niepoort wines, from the different national wine regions, lasts an hour and a half and is one of the wine tourism experiences that allows traveling through the different demarcated regions of Portugal and getting to know the different styles and terroirs worked by the winemakers. from Niepoort. As long as it is held by appointment, the most curious can also participate in a masterclass with a tasting of eighteen wines, the Niepoort Master, lasting three hours, where there is space to learn «everything you need to know about Portuguese wine», reinforces Beatriz Machado. “One of the mottos of our family – and brand – is to think outside the box. The opening to visits at Quinta de Naples and at the Serpa Pinto Cellars symbolize the ‘new time’ to which we have dedicated ourselves at Niepoort. At the same time, we are focused on renewal, bringing new ways of thinking about wine tourism and the devotion to wine, but there are things that we will not change, such as the cellars that have remained unchanged since my grandfather’s time, and which are a unique space in the country (and even in the world)», explains Daniel Niepoort, son of Dirk Niepoort and sixth generation of the family.

As part of the wine tourism sector, Niepoort is hosting this year’s edition of the Festival Tomate-Coração-de-Boi at Quinta de Naples. The beef heart tomato is the most anticipated product of the season, celebrated with a series of initiatives throughout the region. The Douro Tomato-Coração-de-Boi Festival returns, after two years of interruption, to Quinta de Naples on August 26, the first day of the initiative that is in its seventh edition. Quinta de Naples will host a panel of chefs, winemakers, journalists and other actors in the field of gastronomy who are part of the jury of the competition that rewards the best tomato producer of the season.

The event continues the following day, August 27, next to the chapel of Arroios, in Vila Real, with the tasting and sale of what is considered one of the best tomatoes in the world.

This experience consolidates the brand’s commitment to a varied wine tourism offer, both internally and with external partnerships, guaranteeing a dynamic program that can include festivals, concerts, collaborations with artists from various areas, among several other experiences.

At Niepoort, vineyards, wine and history are celebrated in a 360º artistic approach.