Niepoort Conciso 2018

The 2018 Conciso Branco is a field blend from very old vines (heavy on Encruzado, Malvasia and Bical) aged for 20 months in used 500-liter Portuguese barrels. It comes in very dry and at 12.5% alcohol. Textured and pure, this absorbs its wood treatment perfectly, the wood affecting the texture but not the flavors. Perfectly balanced but tense on the finish, this is beautifully constructed, a white with serious energy but also one that feels full enough to be an easy food pairing. Plus, there's a price reduction this issue, evidently. If it appears on shelves near that pricing, it's a steal. It is of comparable quality to the elegant red Conciso this issue, but this might actually be better, relatively speaking. Sourced from very old vines (60 to 100 years in age), there were 12,000 bottles produced.