The final blend is 40% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Franca and 30% Sousão. Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca will be familiar to Port lovers, but Sousão, although a traditional Douro variety, is not often used by many winemakers, as it is notoriously difficult to get absolutely ripe. At Vesuvio we prize it for its excellent color and good acidity, which brings freshness and balance to a blend The wines were made by traditional foot-treading, but to accommodate these small parcels we actually had to erect a temporary wall within one of Vesuvio’s immense stone lagares. The lagar was bled by 30% to further concentrate the wines.
Reviews
Intense blackberry, spice and stem aromas turn slightly floral. Full-bodied and medium sweet, with wonderfully integrated tannins and a finish of black pepper and spice. Beautifully balanced, with gorgeous fruit.
CELLAR SELECTION - From a parcel of old vines around the quinta chapel, this is a stunning wine. It has all the opulence we expect from Vesuvio, along with a density that is rare in this vintage. The tannins are there, but are equalled by the toffee, ripe fruit, figs, sweet chocolate. The whole wine is lightened by acidity, but will obviously age.
The 2007 Quinta do Vesuvio Capela offers a very similar personality with a bit more of everything, depth, concentration, extract, and succulence.