1996 Quinta do Vesuvio

[jdaw1]

A Ragbag of Good Port, Monday 19 September 2011, at the Steak Exchange. Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 1970 Martinez;
• 1970 Offley Boa Vista;
• 1970 Croft;
• 1996 Vesuvio;
• 1977 Niepoort;
• 1977 Warre;
• 1991 Croft;
• 1991 Morgan;
• Planning and arrangements;
• Placemats.

[PhilW]

Dark, very very intense tight-nosed blackcurrants; absolutely packed with flavour and fruit. Very nice and will be extremely interesting to see what this is like in another 5-10yr. Very good.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Deep red , firm rim; still opaque at the centre. Attractive blackcurrants on the nose, slightly sharp and a bit hot. Balanced entry, sweet fruit to the fore but with a strong acidic core - plenty of fruit on the mid-palate. Delicious aftertaste and a long, dense, fruit-dominated finish. Tasty, but still needs another 5-10 years to achieve a better balance. Lots of potential to improve. 86/100

[DRT]

A lovely big blackcurrant bomb - great now with food but will be better with a few more years in the cellar.

[RAYC]

Juicy, fruity, big and tasty with plenty of grip, but not particularly well balanced. As others have mentioned, did drink much better with steak than on its own. I will buy more 94 before i buy this, but this was/will be good **(**)

[Chris Doty]

These notes seem very consistent with how this wine showed at the Vesuvio tasting some time ago. A bit unbalanced (though perhaps not quite 'disjointed') and with decent potential, though IMHO not likely to ever become 'exceptional.' Still, worth having one or two in the cellar for upside.