The principal grape varieties used in this wine were Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca and Sousão, all of which performed magnificently at Vesuvio in 2011. For the first time ever, Charles Symington included a small parcel of Alicante Bouschet in a Vintage Port. Through ongoing evaluation over the last few years, the Alicante Bouschet has shown itself to be a very impressive variety, contributing structure and color, due to its intensely coloured berries. The Touriga Nacional and the Alicante Bouschet were picked and fermented together on one lagar, as were the Sousão and Touriga Franca in early October. These two wines from the two fermentations were blended together to produce a very complex and well-structured wine.
Reviews
...a wine that tastes like the horizon line of the sea, if you could see it from the top of Vesuvio. Somewhere in the insane rush of Douro flavor, in the scents of iodine and savory herbs, the gamey richness of fruit rolling across the palate, the smoky green schist tannins, there’s a line of refinement, a supple beauty that isn’t about aggressive power. The flavor is tremendously long, a rush of energy that will carry this wine for decades.
CELLAR SELECTION - This is beautifully ripe and perfumed, packed with richness in the form of sweet berries and touches of spice. It's already a gorgeous wine, its ripeness lifted by the acidity and given shape by the tannic structure. This powerful wine shows great aging potential.
It is endowed with a heart-warming, refined, elegant bouquet with pure scents of raspberry coulis, apricot jam, macerated small dark cherries and blueberry. Supremely well-defined, it unfolds beautifully in the glass. The palate is full-bodied with thick ripe, slightly chewy tannins and exquisite balance. It climaxes in a copious, lightly spiced, lemongrass-tinged finish that goes on and on and on. What an outstanding Vintage Port!
Aromas of flowers and berries with hints of dried fruits. Full body, medium sweet with solid tannins and a powerful palate. This goes on for minutes. Extremely well-made. 1,250 cases produced of this foot-trodden wine.
Focused and precise, with cedar and cigar box notes to the luscious raspberry and boysenberry flavors. Silky midpalate, offering cream and chocolate details on the vibrant finish.