Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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jdaw1
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Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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On Wednesday 24th February 2016, Johnny Symington and other suspects gathered at the B&F for a complete vertical of Quinta do Vesuvio.

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

Post by flash_uk »

Many thanks to Wolfgang and the many others who provided the bottles to make this complete Vesuvio line-up. Certainly the most bottles I have attempted to taste in one sitting (and on a school night too!)

Really great evening and great company. Good to see new faces (welcome Dia), and good to meet Johnny and to hear some great stories from him about the history and the Vesuvio port.

Turning to the port, the '89,'90 and '91 had a more evolved colour, with '92 onwards being much darker and more inky. I also found a distinct change in taste from '06 onwards, with these tasting much more obviously younger.
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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

Post by mosesbotbol »

What brands of port were Vesuvio grapes used in before the Vesuvio brand was launched?
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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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mosesbotbol wrote:What brands of port were Vesuvio grapes used in before the Vesuvio brand was launched?
The Symingtons bought the estate just before the '89 Vesuvio release. Prior to that the estate was part of the Ferreira stable and I think I recall Johnny saying that the grapes were used variously in some Ferreira ports but also sold to other producers.

Edit: and with perfect timing JDAW has just posted some evidence of the Ferreira connection.
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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

Post by Constandia »

Wolfgang and everyone - thank you very much for organising a complete vertical in perfecion and for being so wellcoming; it must have been such hard task to decant 23 bottles and arrange this all so carefully, well done!

It was great to meet Johnny and get an inside knowledge of the Quinta as well as of the efforts the family made to preserve but revitalize the classic character of Vesuvio and also invest in the future by planting more single varietal vineyards.

Forward to the tasting itself I liked a few of the wines here - the 89, 90, 92, 94, 97 which I liked more the next day, 03 showed extremely well the next day, 06, 07, 2011 and 2013. I couldn't agree more with you I have also found a distinct change in taste as well as colour from '06 onwards. I will try and type in my full tasting notes neatly for each year soon.
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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

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flash_uk wrote:
mosesbotbol wrote:What brands of port were Vesuvio grapes used in before the Vesuvio brand was launched?
The Symingtons bought the estate just before the '89 Vesuvio release. Prior to that the estate was part of the Ferreira stable and I think I recall Johnny saying that the grapes were used variously in some Ferreira ports but also sold to other producers.

Edit: and with perfect timing JDAW has just posted some evidence of the Ferreira connection.

Looks to be Ferreira owned both Vargellas and Vesuvio. Who at that point owned across the river? Did Cockburn buy from Ferreira as well?
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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

Post by Chris Doty »

jdaw1 wrote:Johnny Symington and other suspects gathered for a complete vertical of Quinta do Vesuvio

What colors!!

Great to see Johnny once again taking time out of what is doubtless a busy schedule to "eat what he cooks" and converse with the 'hardcore' clients that Vesuvio has rightly earned since 1994 (1989 - 1992 have never done much for me, YMMV).

The 1994 Vesuvio, alongside the 1970 Dow and the 2011 Quevedo rank as my favorite wine values of all time - not just port - in all of wine, you will struggle to get superior QPR than the 94V. I wasn't at this tasting, obviously, but I suggest my note would have read "Peerless, pure, purple pleasure."

The Symingtons are also such studs. Their passion, their transparency, their forthrightness, their humor, their warmth - port is lucky to have such upstanding and eloquent ambassadors.

Wish I could have been there. Haven't yet seen a bottle of Vesuvio in Bangalore...maybe they're in need of an importer!

:tpf:
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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

Post by Doggett »

What an honour, privilege and pleasure to have been at this amazing complete vertical of the beautiful Vesuvio vintage ports. It may have been missing the Capelas and colheita's, but this was a fine moment of Port history with every 'normal' declared vintage. Huge thanks go to Wolfgang for his tireless work in organising this great event and for resisting many cooks playing with his broth. Thanks too, to everyone that contributed bottles and to all that organised on the day.

It was great to meet JNEW and Dia and especially to have Johnny Symington join us for the tasting. It was wonderful to hear about the Quinta from the man himself, and huge thanks too for the very generous books about the Quinta he bought along for each of us, that must have weighed down Johnny's bag!

I have attempted to type up my tasting notes from the evening, but as you will see there are all very similar as the 23 ports were pretty much all wonderful, and most with a very similar basic DNA to be expected. Despite good intentions, I never seem to remember to write my notes with AHB like diligence/sophistication, and so this tasting in particular provided many the same. I have noted the opacity of each port as I saw it, and posted the scores I recorded on the night, with notes that were made and make apologies for any repetition in my descriptions :-)

Thanks again to all...I feel like I was part of Port appreciation history with this tasting and i look forward to doing it all again in 5 years or so! Wolfgang - maybe you should post a hold the date for the next Vesuvio vertical in 2021/22.

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Re: Wed 24 Feb 2016, B&F, Vesuvio 1989 to 2013

Post by WS1 »

I was in the end very happy how the Vesuvio vertical paned out. A great evening in great company with only two flawed bts. (2012 and 1991 being corked ports). Thanks a lot to AHB, JDAW, Dogget and flash_uk for the pre pouring, printing and organisatorial work for the tasting. It was great Johnny Symmington could make it and passed on quite a few interesting details that at least I did not know.
Before the tasting there was some talk about a change in style of Vesuvio ports most recently; after the experience of this tasting I am sure there is not. The Symmington except replanting heavily and a new air condition after they purchased the Quinta have not changed anything significant. All ports showed to me similar structure and style. For me the there was in all ports some raspberry flavor. From 06 onwards this was overlayed by some black currant flavors being attributed to the age of the replanted wines.
Most noteably of the tasting was the excellent showing of the early vintages espcially the 89! Despite the "burned" smokey touch attributed to the lack of airconditioning in the early days they are vibrant, fresh, complex and attractive ports! Previous Vesuvio tastings were mostly focused around the brilliant 94 Vesuvio leaving the older vintages and other vintages more in its shadow. This tasting showed that not only with the arrival of the 11 Vesuvio there is more competition out there but also that the difference in quality to the other vintages is actually much smaller.
There was quite a bit of difference in opinion about how to do this tasting; I can say after having done this one my way I will most likely not do a 23 vintage port tasting again in similar fashion (with opening, decanting plan etc.). Despite the profound effect it is quite a lot of work and in the end quite a bit of waste of port. Even if you drink it over the next few days as many and I did, it felt wrong in the end.
Funniest moment related to this Vesuvio tasting was around a week before the tasting. As part of the "Mon 15th Feb 2016 - A second emergency in a week!" gathering JDAW and DRT were teaching AHB and me lessions about how many Vesuvio bts should be opened for the tasting. Both of them felt 23 would be too many :!: . In the end the two teachers as so often in school did not succeed. But it was a very funny moment having experienced in the past how crazy DRT and JDAW can become about completness of tastings... :lol:

Despite Dogget suggested we should have another Vesuvio tasting in 5 years time...

Let us first do the celebrations of :tpf: becomes 10 years old first. :)

regards

WS1
"Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough"
Mark Twain
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