Description
Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port 2019 is the result of an erratic growing season, with a little over 50% of the average winter rainfall in the Douro and almost none in the summer. Fortunately, showers at the end of August helped the grapes achieve more balanced maturations. Head Winemaker, Charles Symington, exercised patience and precisely timed the picking over six weeks – making it one of the longest harvests in recent years. The reward was a collection of perfectly ripe grape varieties in good quantities (averaging 1.27 kg/vine) delivering lively and exuberant wines. This was in contrast to the concentration of the exceptionally small years in 2017 and 2018.
Founded by the legendary Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, Quinta do Vesuvio is one of the great Douro estates. It has a total area of 326 hectares, of which 133 hectares are planted with vines. The rest has been conserved in its natural state. The property has great variations in altitude, from 130m at the riverside to 530m at the top of the ridge. It has vineyards that face north, south, east and west, providing a remarkable range of conditions. Dona Antónia bottled the first known single estate wine in the Douro in 1868. When the family acquired the property in 1989, they decided to resurrect Vesuvio as a single estate, rather than amalgamating its grapes under a port brand like most Quintas. Since then, their sole objective has been to create outstanding wines, both Vintage Ports and Douro DOC wines, using only the very best grapes on the property.
