Susana Esteban & Dirk Niepoort Shameless Red 2021

The Wine Advocate
RP 92
Reviewed by: Luis Gutierrez

Sem Vergonha 2021 was made with Castelão grapes. It has an earthy and rustic touch, with adequate ripeness, but without excess. It has 13.5% alcohol content and good freshness, without being herbaceous, maintaining a delicate side. It has good structure and a polished palate, with abundant, fine-grained tannins. Fermentation took place in an open stainless steel press with indigenous yeasts and the wine aged for one year in French oak barrels. A total of 3,744 bottles were produced. Bottling took place in September 2023.

According to Susana Esteban, who produced this wine in collaboration with Dirk Niepoort, "Castelão has always surprised me with its ability to produce structured and highly complex wines, while maintaining delicacy and freshness. All these characteristics remind me of Burgundy wines, so I challenged Dirk Niepoort, a great connoisseur of Burgundy wines, to make a 'Sem Vergonha' Castelão—a play on words with 'without Burgundy' in Portuguese."