Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2024 Capela da Quinta do Vesúvio Vintage Port, named after the Chapel Vineyard, which is the first to be replanted after phylloxera, is a field blend of centenary vines, and the wine also has grapes from other plots, including a younger one planted exclusively with Touriga Franca. It fermented with indigenous yeasts in stone lagars that were foot trodden and then matured in oak casks for 18 months. This somehow didn't have the energy and edge of the regular Vesúvio. It has notes of orange blossom, a hint of resin and rockrose, and it grew in the glass. It has lavender, notes of pine needles, the Vesúvio signature, and is explosive in the mouth, with well-armed tannins. It's a big wine but has balance. It has 20% alcohol, a pH of 3.65 and 101 grams of sugar.
Range: 95-97 -
James Suckling
Graphite and blackberries, very aromatic and absorbing. Full-bodied and chiselled, with an engaging austerity that complements a sense of restrained sweetness. Grainy and sharp on the finish. Vines from Vinha da Capela co-fermented with alicante bouschet from Vinha dos Castelos; touriga nacional from Vinha da Escola co-fermented with sousão from Vale da Teja and touriga franca (50+ years) from Vale da Teja.
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.