Niepoort & Cork Supply Legacy – a partnership that guarantees pure enjoyment
July 14, 2025 — Dirk Niepoort knows only too well that some of the most outstanding wines benefit from being aged for decades. This innovative winemaker yearned for a closure that would guarantee his painstakingly crafted wines would emerge from the cellar in the same perfect condition as they were bottled.
Meanwhile, another equally innovative company, Cork Supply, was quietly pursuing the same goal. It spent millions of euros over more than a decade on its quest to create the ultimate natural closure. Finally, it developed patented technology which harnesses artificial intelligence to produce the world’s most consistent cork.
The Legacy cork was born…and Dirk Niepoort has fittingly become the first Portuguese producer to use this revolutionary new closure. What’s more, he has chosen to entrust his beloved Vinha do Carril red wine from a century-old vineyard on the terraced slopes of Cima Corgo above the Douro River to the Legacy cork.
Game-changing technology
Combining cutting-edge AI technology and specialist human expertise, the cork has been dubbed a “game changer” by founder and president Jochen Michalski who joined Dirk Niepoort in the Douro on 9 July to unveil the new Vinha do Carril 2023 vintage.
“We are delighted that a trailblazer like Dirk Niepoort has chosen a cork that represents the pinnacle of natural closures,” Michalski said. “The Legacy is the perfect choice for winemakers who want to guarantee their wines can consistently be enjoyed exactly as they intended – now and in the decades to come.”
Cork Supply is so confident of its technology that it offers a world-first guarantee to Niepoort and every other customer: the company will buy back any bottle sealed with the Legacy if the wine shows any TCA taint.
Trio of innovations
Three innovations ensure the Legacy is the most consistent natural cork available to the market. The most recent is exclusive to the Legacy – the patented X100 electromagnetic imaging technology.
This one-of-a-kind technology screens the internal structure of every single cork for features that are not visible to the naked eye. An AI algorithm then correlates the internal structure with its Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR), the rate at which oxygen enters the bottle. The non-invasive technology, certified by the independent UvaMox laboratory in Spain, detects outliers that can allow up to 5–10 times more oxygen to enter than other corks. These corks are (of course) instantly discarded.
The cork producer also puts all Legacy closures through its rigorous TCA individual screening innovations and technologies, which remove any corks with 2,4,6-Trichloroanisole (TCA) or other off-aromas, ensuring sensory consistency.
Standing for ‘dry soak, 100% inspected’, the DS100 process sees corks placed in jars with a small amount of pure water. Trained sensory specialists then inspect them, and, if any of them detects TCA or other off-aromas, the jar of corks is discarded.
Vocus is a technology which releases volatile compounds from the cork, concentrates them and mechanically assesses for the presence of TCA, automatically rejecting any with TCA levels above 1ng/L (nanogram per litre).
Together, this trio of innovations is the ultimate safeguard, guaranteeing both the sensory and structural performance of the Legacy cork. A triple-tested natural closure, backed by state-of-the-art technology, assures Dirk Niepoort and his fellow vintners that their renowned wines will enjoy an enduring legacy.
About Cork Supply
Cork Supply specialises in natural and technical closures for still and sparkling wines, backed by 40 years of experience, research and technology. It was the first to launch a natural closure without detectable TCA and with an individual guarantee. Cork Supply produces cork closures in Portugal from the finest quality corkwood harvested from responsibly managed forests. It launched the premium Legacy cork in 2024, the most consistent natural cork closure on the market, after investing €1.2 million in innovative, patented technology that analyses every single cork to eliminate the risk of cork taint.
About Vinha do Carril
Vinha do Carril is the Niepoort family’s most recent iconic red wine. The vineyard (Vinha) is located in the Cima Corgo region, just above the Quinta de Nápoles winery, on steep schist soil oriented to north-west. The vineyard is planted with a mix of native grape varieties. After hand harvesting, the whole bunch grapes are left to macerate for approximately two weeks in a large wooden fermentation vat. After pressing, the wine spends 12 months maturing in an old wooden barrel.
