Smaak notities:
Een evenwichtige, krachtige portwijn gemaakt in de klassieke Vesuvio-stijl. Hoewel onweerstaanbaar in zijn jeugd heeft de wijn alles in zich om tientallen jaren te ouderen.
QUINTA DO VESUVIO 2004 VINTAGE PORT
Vesuvio is the only major Douro quinta to continue to produce its wines exclusively by traditional treading. Vesuvio Vintage Ports are foot-trodden in the Quinta's eight magnificent granite lagares, maintaining an unbroken tradition that dates back to 1827. Full complements of 50 treaders worked each lagar during the 2004 vintage and this time-honoured method continues to produce the finest Vintage Ports at Quinta do Vesuvio.
Quinta do Vesuvio
Vesuvio's rise to prominence began in the first half of the 19th Century under the ownership of the Ferreira family and by the close of the century the property had acquired a legendary status. Following a period of relative obscurity, the Quinta was acquired by the Symington family in 1989 and since then the property has benefited from ambitious investment. In a decade and a half Vesuvio has enjoyed a renaissanceand is now ranked as one of the top-tier Vintage Port producers.
As is the custom at Vesuvio, only the very finest wines have been selected for bottling as Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port, amounting to 1100 cases for 2004. The wine was moulded in the classic Vesuvio style, showing power, structure and great poise. The fragrant nose of violets and layers of rich blackberry fruit on the palate make it irresistable for broaching young, although the wine wil age for decades.
Climatically, 2004 was atypical throughout most of the argicultural year. with an unusally dry winter being followed by an equally dry and very hot spring. June was exceptionally hot at Vesuvio with virtually no rain to speak of. Rainfall was totally absent during July and there was great concern that excessive hydric stress would irreversibly compromise the quality of the fruit. Fortunately, however, August brought plenty of rain, in fact the highest recorded in the Douro for the month of August in 104 years.
Quinta do Vesuvio
The unseasonal, desperately needed rain came at a critical time, although the persistence of overcast conditions and some further rain in early September was turning into liability,
holding back the maturation of the unripe grapes. The weather though, obliged once more, swinging in our favour and from mid September there were 25 days of interrupting sunshine, with high temperatures of allowing for
excellent ripening of the grapes. The Baumés were some of the highest recorded in a decade, the Touriga Nacional reaching 14.7
o and the Touriga Franca 13.5
o.
A year which could have been very difficult indeed actually turned out to be quite exceptional, surpassing all our expectations.