Quinta do Vesuvio Capela 2017 (750ML)

99 JS / 96 VM / 19 JR

This is an old-vine Port with two-thirds coming from ancient ones. Bark, black tea, crushed grapes and mahogany. Big and grippy. Old, traditional styled Port with incredible depth and power. Big yet polished tannins. This is foot-trodden. Co-fermented. Real deal. 470 cases. Try after 2030. - James Suckling

The 2017 Capela da Quinta do Vesuvio is the fourth release named after the quinta's chapel. Its vines were one of the first planted after the phylloxera crisis and the grape varieties were co-fermented in the same lagaretes (a small lagare). It is a serious step up from the Quinta do Vesuvio: much more finesse and delineation, slightly more mineral-rich blackberry and bilberry fruit, veins of crème de cassis and camphor. I adore the harmony of this Vintage Port. The palate is medium-bodied with very supple tannin that caress the mouth. The acidity is beautifully judged, a somehow effortless fortified wine with a silky-textured, sensual finish with layers of luxuriant black fruit laced with clove and cracked black pepper. What a brilliant Vintage Port from the Symington family. Production is 5,184 bottles. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

Includes 90-year-old field-blend vines from the Capela vineyard. The Vinha da Capela vineyard was one of the first to be replanted post-phylloxera at Quinta do Vesuvio in the late 19th century. Also includes fruit from Vinha da Escola (Alicante Bouschet, Sousão, Touriga Nacional) and Vale da Teja (Touriga Franca). A lot of co-fermentation in this wine depending on the coincidence of ripening – eg early ripening Alicante Bouschet with the grapes from the Vinha da Capela field blend, the Touriga Nacional was joined with the Touriga Franca and the Sousão, as their ripening unusually overlapped. Baumé 3.3, TA 4.06 g/l.
Black almost to the rim. Super-concentrated black fruit, so intense it draws you ineluctably in. Intense wild blackberry and elderberry, smells almost sour in its tangy fruit. Thick-pile and so rich on the palate. Incredible concentration but neither over-ripeness nor heaviness. Glorious fruit supported by compact but almost soft tannins that are so fully ripe they seem to become the fruit. (JH) Jancis Robinson .com