Winemaker Notes
Quinta do Vesuvio 2008 is a fabulous accompaniment to chocolate desserts, such as flourless chocolate cake or dark chocolate truffles, but can also be enjoyed on its own - it is an experience in itself.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
A full-throttle, full-bodied Port, exhibiting lively raspberry and cassis flavors that feature plenty of grip. Lush creamy notes carry through to the chocolate mousse-infused finish. Best from 2015 through 2025. 600 cases made.
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Wine Enthusiast
Structured wine, shouting of its dark schist terroir. Bitter chocolate and spicy fruit set an attractive frame for the acidity. With plenty of weight to go with the tannins, this will age well.
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Wine & Spirits
2008 Porto A luscious, velvety Port, this is draped in black, plummy fruit flavor. The fruit is warm and spicy, the structure soft underneath. A sweet vintage of Vesuvio, this will likely be at its best around ten to 12 years of age.
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F. To learn more, see our full Port Wine Guide
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.