Quinta Do Vesuvio 2022 Vintage Port

Description

Quinta do Vesuvio 2022 Vintage Port marks the return of Vesúvio Vintage Port after the 2020 and 2021 Covid-19 restrictions. Quinta do Vesuvio Capela, a super cuvée micro-production Vintage Port realised from just three micro-terroirs was also produced in the 2022 vintage.

“The 2022 harvest will be remembered as the year the conditions tested the resilience of our vines to the limit and our ability to adapt to a new reality. It showed us that our vines can still perform well with much less water and higher temperatures than we ever imagined.” Charles Symington, October 2022

Quinta do Vesuvio is the flagship Single Quinta of Symington Family Estates (owners of Dow, Warre, Grahams et al.) In 1823 Quinta do Vesuvio was purchased by the well-known Port grower António Bernard Ferreira who massively renovated and improved the estate. It passed through family hands until it was acquired by the Symington family in 1989 who immediately set about restoring and renovating the estate to modern standards. The main house and winery were restored and a large planting and re-planting of the existing vineyard was undertaken taking the vineyard area to 136 hectares. All grapes are trodden by foot and only Vintage Port is made at Quinta de Vesuvio. Between the extraordinary variety of microclimates and the range of grape varieties grown on the estate, the Quinta is capable of making a great Vintage Port in all but the most challenging years.  The entire property is A-rated, the highest possible quality designation.

Vintage Ports are only made in exceptional years (usually three or four times in a decade). After the harvest, wines of Vintage potential are put into oak barrels called ‘pipes’. Some eighteen months later a careful and painstaking series of tastings is held to judge exactly which wines of different vineyards merit inclusion in the final blend. If the ideal blend is achieved, the wine is then bottled without any filtration whatsoever approximately 24 months after the original harvest. Vintage Port must then be matured for some ten to twenty years in cool dark cellars as it gradually achieves the outstanding style of a great wine. The bottles should always be stored lying down. Vintage Ports deposit a heavy sediment or ‘crust’ in the bottle while maturing and must be decanted before serving.

Wine Specification

Alcohol by volume: 20% vol.
Total acidity: 4.70
Baumé: 4.10°
pH: 3.63
Bottled (unfiltered): May 2024
Winemakers: Charles Symington and José Luís Cavalheiro

Grape Variety Composition

45% Touriga Nacional
33% Touriga Franca
22% Alicante Bouschet

Only 1710 cases (12 bottles) of Quinta do Vesuvio 2022 Vintage Port were produced.