Met veel plezier kondigen we (na een periode van drie jaar) eindelijk weer de voorintekening aan van de populaire vintage ports van Quinta do Vesuvio.
Quinta do Vesuvio: één van de meest iconische landgoederen van Portugal, is gelegen aan de rivier in de Douro Superior, zo’n 120 km van de Atlantische Oceaan en slechts 30 km verwijderd van de Spaanse grens. Alle druiven worden hier nog steeds met blote voeten getreden in de originele “Lagares” uit 1827. Dit alles resulteert in vintage ports die consistent worden geprezen om hun complexiteit, rijkdom en levensduur.
Bestel hier Quinta do Vesuvio 2022 Vintage Port
Bestel hierCapela do Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port 2022
THE YEAR The 2022 harvest will be remembered as the year the conditions tested the resilience of our vines to the limit and our ability to adapt to a new reality. It showed us that our vines can still perform well with much less water and higher temperatures than we ever imagined.
Charles Symington, October 2022
As our harvest preparations began, we knew that we faced unprecedented conditions in the Douro, with the three months before the vintage being among the hottest and driest ever recorded. Between November 2021 and August 2022, Vesúvio recorded just 136 mm of rain, which was 66% less than the 30-year average and was the fourth consecutive year of below average rainfall. The dryness of the soils was compounded by higher-than-average temperatures through the summer months, including the hottest July recorded since 1931. Pinhão, in the Cima Corgo sub-region recorded the highest ever temperature in the country at an extraordinary 47°C. While the impact on the vines was significant and the bunches and berries were smaller than usual, our viticulture and winery teams worked flat out through one of the most challenging Douro harvests to make some very promising wines. We started with the earlier-ripening varieties in our lower-lying vineyards: Alicante Bouschet, Tinta Amarela, Sousão and Tinta Barroca. While acidity levels were lower, the lagares had good colour. The turning point came in the first week of September when average daytime temperatures thankfully dropped to between 22°C and 25°C allowing maturations to progress evenly and gradually. At this time we began to pick our prime plots of Touriga Nacional, which delivered very fine, deep-coloured wines with moderate baumés of 13°, and is a major component of this Quinta do Vesúvio 2022 blend