Quinta do Vesuvio 2018

The 2018 Quinta do Vesuvio has a plush bouquet of black fruit laced with clove, nougat, boysenberry jam and white pepper. I would have liked a little more precision here. The palate is medium-bodied with impressive spicy attack on the entry - cracked black pepper and bitter orange, touches of liquorice and mint towards the well structured finish. Moderate length. A quality Vesuvio that deserves several years in bottle.

The 2018 Vintage Port is a blend of 54% Touriga Nacional and 40% Touriga Franca and Alicante Bouschet combined, with miscellaneous others filling out the blend. It comes in with 112 grams of residual sugar. This is one of the two Ports being released en primeur now by the Symingtons in this issue. If you are judging the group on concentration and power, this is easily the winner, the one with the biggest upside. There are some other points to make, though. You may like the style of some others more.

A blend of 54% Touriga Nacional, 40% Touriga Franca / Alicante Bouschet (co-fermented) and 6% Sousão (for freshness), predominantly from cooler north / north-west facing vineyards: beautifully lifted, scented floral aromas (rose petals), vinous and overt; sweet and suave initially, ripe but gentle blackberry fruit backed by velvety tannins leading to a finish that is both powerful and elegant at the same time. Wonderful freshness and vitality. A magnificent wine for drinking over the medium to long term. Just 965 cases produced representing 3% of the quinta’s total production.