Quinta do Vesuvio

The history of Quinta do Vesuvio dates back to 1565. Back then, it grew mainly fig, lemon, almond and olive trees. The estate was then called Quinta das Figueiras. Figueiras is the Portuguese name for fig trees. The vine followed only later, and the winery was built in 1827. The estate was therefore renamed Quinta do Vezúvio. At first this was written with the 'z', but this eventually bastardised into Vesuvio. Since 1989, Quinta do Vesuvio has been owned by the famous Symington family, which also owns Graham's, Dow's, Warre's and Cockburn's.

The winery and vineyards are located in the Douro Superior sub-region. This is the eastern part of the Douro valley. Because Douro Superior is located most inland, it is the driest and warmest of the entire region here. The Spanish border is just 45 kilometres from the winery. The property covers 326 hectares, 133 of which are planted with vines. Touriga nacional, touriga franca, alicante bouchet and tinta roriz are the main grape varieties. These are planted between 130 and 530 metres.

The monumental winery dating back to 1827 is unchanged and still in use for all port wines. It consists of eight granite lagares in which the grapes are crushed by foot. After crushing, the fermenting juice flows into chestnut wood vats for the second part of vinification. As these barrels are one storey lower, gravity can be used. The entire vinification process is supervised by Charles Symington and José Luís Cavalheiro. There are of course several port styles, but Vesuvio focuses only on making vintage port. It does, however, also produce three still wines.

Quinta do Vesuvio is an absolute star when it comes to vintage port. Its port wines are very impressive and definitely worth trying. 2016 and 2017 are the winery's two exceptional vintages.