"The 2000 Vesuvio is rich and opulent with the classic nose of ‘violets’. This wine is dark, almost ink-purple. On the palate, the Vesuvio 2000 has layers of rich concentrated fruit, the tannins are strong, but ripe. This is one of Vesuvio’s finest ever wines."
Quinta do Vesuvio is one of the Douro’s great estates. It is situated far upriver in the Douro Superior, 120 kilometers from the Atlantic coast and just 45 kilometres from Spain. The Quinta’s reputation for producing outstanding wines dates to the nineteenth century when the Viscount of Villa Maior wrote, 'All this wine is made scrupulously and to perfection, this Quinta was made as if for princes'. Since acquiring Quinta do Vesuvio in 1989, the Symington family has developed its legendary reputation. The family preserved the age-old method of treading grapes in the granite lagares that date from 1827. Teams of up to 40 men and women tread the grapes each harvest night. Vesuvio is one of the last Douro properties to maintain this tradition and all the vineyard’s Ports are made in this way. The Vesuvio estate comprises 326 hectares, of which 133 hectares are under vine. Investments by the Symington family have turned the estate into one of the Douro’s finest vineyards. Alongside new plantings, many of the mature vineyards from the 1970s have been preserved together with older, mixed variety vineyards, which contribute to the complexity and structure of Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Ports.
The Vintage Port produced at Vesuvio in 2000 is of remarkable quality. We are fortunate that the climatic conditions allowed us to make such a superb wine. However, the year did not start well, not since 1994 have we had such low production. Bad weather in April prevented many of the vine flowers from being fertilised, thus the number of grapes on each vine was very low but the fruit that did ‘set’, ripened under perfect conditions during June through to August. In late August we had two days of rain; this was very welcome and prepared the grapes superbly for harvesting, which began on Thursday 21st September. The average yield was just 720g per vine. Temperatures during the harvest were also mild, greatly facilitating the fermentations in the lagares.
