Winemaker Notes
A flourish of signature Vesúvio floral aromas of lavender and rockrose is followed by exquisitely fresh, ripe red fruit extracts with cherry predominating. Minerality and acidity take turns in delivering vitality and freshness on the palate. Flavours of succulent, ripe red and black fruit balance with fine-grained tannins to provide flawless elegance and poise, true to the great Vintages of Vesúvio. Long, seductive finish.
Blend: 45% Touriga Nacional, 33% Touriga Franca, 22% Alicante Bouschet
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Restrained upon opening, it blooms in the glass to reveal aromas of lavender, blueberry leaf and bramble over petrichor, wet leaves and burning tobacco. Surprising freshness on the palate which has juicy pomegranate and cranberry cradling a darker core of blackberry. Beautiful earthiness gives a rustic edge to the polished fruit and powdery tannins.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
I found the regular and classical vintage wine, the 2022 Vintage Port, to be a lot more expressive, aromatic, floral and complex than the (much more expensive) Capela do Quinta do súvio. It has a dense and seamless palate, full, rich, expressive and tasty, with plenty of tannins but with all its components in nice harmony. It's intense and long, very precise, large but proportioned. This should develop very nicely and for a long time in bottle. This 2022 was crafted with 45% Touriga Nacional, 33% Touriga Franca and an unusually high 22% of Alicante Bouschet. It has 20% alcohol, with a pH of 3.63 and 112 grams of acidity. Often the sweet wines look better in comparative tastings; this one did. It does seem to have more of everything...
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James Suckling
The nose shows figs, prunes and graphite. This is full, juicy and unctuous with chewy tannins, lots of blackberries and a long tannic finish.
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Wine Spectator
This is very stylish, with a beautiful display of black cherry, boysenberry and blackberry puree notes flecked with dried anise and violet. Seamless, with a long, graphite-accented finish that flows wonderfully. Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Alicante Bouschet and Tinta Amarela. Best from 2040 through 2060.
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.