ThePortForum.com

Time for a youngster. An odd bottle from a vintage I've had very little experiance of.

Vesuvio has a problem with fine soup-like sediment that makes decanting difficult - hard to know when to stop pouring. Maybe with age it will coagulate a little.

Decanted 24hrs ago, the wine was immediately approachable, and has shown little evolution in the decanter.

A very dark and well extracted wine with typical tar/blackcurrant Vesuvio signature. Though young, the tannins are not over-aggressive.

While this is a good wine, it comes over as a little bit weak and watery, which is rather at odds with Mayson's harvest report that tells of raisined grapes and jammy burnt wines, but he also notes a little rain fell on Sept 5th, which was mid harvest that year.

To score:

For immediate gratification: The wine, though young, is sufficiently composed to be approachable, but it's youth does mitigate against it. At this point I judge it to be below the median, but not by a mile - so a 4.

Where's it going? If it were a little less dilute, I would hail this as a potential future blockbuster. It will improve further without doubt, but it may miss the dizzy heights. However, a place in the top quartile is likely.

So score 4-8

Note to me: No need to re-visit the 95's for a couple of years.

Tom

Has it got a style? Is there a House you would say it's similar to?
I've never had one, and I've no great wish to for another decade, you can be my taster, but I'm curious.

Alan,

You're asking the wrong man. AHB (aka Vesuvio Man) has approximately half of the worlds QdV stocks in his cellar and is the foremost authority on this particular product.

If you go to the TN Index you will see my notes from the greatest Vesuvio vertical tasting in history. Seriously, it was. Alex and Roy's notes can be found of FTLOP somewhere.

If you want to try a Vesuvio I would recommend the 96 - never destined to be a blockbuster but beautiful to drink now, even at only 11 years old. The 94 is the top of the Vesuvio tree - buy all you can (before AHB beats you too it )

Derek

Thanks for that, and if your browsing Alex, have you got an opinion? Maybe it's a taste all of its own that cant be compared?

Alan

Conky,

Vesuvio has a very distinct house style, and it's very much theirs alone.

The horrid truth is that while we keep dabbling, they are ALL too young still..

Tom

uncle tom wrote:The horrid truth is that while we keep dabbling, they are ALL too young still..

Tom,

Although I have only had them once I would dispute that for the 89 and 90 because of the Douro Bake. I can't see those wines lasting the pace as a big VPs. As for the others, I agree - too young for anyone to tell if they will turn out as good as everyone hopes they will.

Derek

The Vesuvio wines that I have tried all have a house style that is their own, but which I find dominated by blackcurrant cordial more than any other house. However, it is tough to know how this house style will mature or where it will go.

I agree with Derek that the 1989 and 1990 should be drunk sooner rather than later, and - just in case Derek starts to get complacent - I disagree with his suggestion that the 1996 will not be a blockbuster. In my view it will not reach the dizzy heights of the 1994 (but this is a Tom10 wine) but it will still be a mightily impressive wine. However, the 1996 has one huge advantage over most of its siblings in that it is very readily available in the UK at the moment and relatively cheap.

The only real option is for you to try two or three for yourself. Perhaps 3 good vintages to try would be the 1991, 1992 and 1996. If you can track down a 1989 or 1990 then these would also be worth adding in to the trial, but please add them at the end of your experiment in case they do have a trace of the Douro bake that is noticeable.

Alex

Alex,

I'm not sure I can agree that the 96 will achieve the status of "blockbuster" - this may just be down to my understanding of the terminology. For me. V94 would fall into that category along with stuff like F63/66, NN63, etc.

There is no disputing V96 is a great wine, bt it will never win the Premiership

Derek

There we can agree - Vesuvio '96 will never win the premiership and will be destined to mid-table mediocrity whenever it comes up against some of the big-boys.

However, from time to time it will reach the UEFA cup places and might sometimes just scrape that 4th Championship spot.

Alex

dominated by blackcurrant cordial

Indeed - alcoholic Ribena!

Tom

Vesuvio 1996

Only 65 pipes were produced.

Notes from last year. Very dark with some slight fading at the rim. Smooth and silky on the palate with lots of cedar/cigar box and some fresh fruit. A very nice floralness makes this an easy sipper. However, it is lacking in needed tannins to carry it for a long time. A good now drinker
91 points.


I agree this is a mid-term drinker that is drinking well right now, but won't be a blockbuster and it won't last forever.

I read somewhere that the Quinta do Vesuvio estate is massive,

It currently encompasses 1008 acres, its perimeter measuring almost nine-and-one-half miles, a third of which fronts the Douro river

Is this a current reference or a historical one?
The reason I ask, is that if it is the current position, why aren't we awash with Vesuvio?

Alan

Vesuvio is massive and I was fortunate to stand at the very top of it, at the old guards building, with several forum members. Its an awsome view and it really gives you a sense of just how big the place is.

However, as much as it produces, very little actually ends up as "Vesuvio" Vingate port. If im not mistaken, most is used as cheaper rubies and LBV's for the Symington stable of Ports.

Plus the fact that of the total space available, significantly large portions are not (yet?) under vine. Perhaps one day we will be awash with Vesuvio but for the moment, when you stand at the top of the Vesuvio hill, you get to see an awful lot of dry, arid scrubland.

Alex

As a post-script, I would note that after a relative lack of evolution from decanting to the 24hr marker, I have observed a notable increase in composure at the 48hr mark and beyond.

Youngsters are not exempt from decanting time!

Tom