For The Love Of Port

Shipped by Allyn & Scott Wines in the UK. Imported by Wine Cellars Ltd Briar Manor, NY, USA. Not sure where and when I bought this. On opening I find that it has a double capsule - a proper metal capsule over a vintage marked plastic capsule. I sometimes associate this with a later release. But I know that I did not buy this recently.

Pop and pour. No decant. Opaque black color. Beautiful blackberry and cedar nose. Full bodied entry. Really big, but somehow not "heavy". Coats the entire palate. Lots of complex spice showing up. Then very late a quirt of citrus that makes you want to come back for more. I contemplated on every sip. Very, very long finish. This is the best example of 1994 Vesuvio that I've had in the last few years. Such an exciting wine! Wow! Superb! Stunning! 96 points.

I had opened one recently too and with similar notes and score too. I think they are coming to show their best now, which was not the case over the past decade. So at 23, its is finally at the beginning of prime time and will be for years to come. Loved it and I hope to live long enough to drink every bottle of this that I own.

Agreed! For the last 10 years they have seemed more rustic and less pliant than in their youth. You have to admit that the fruit has really stood the test of time!

Yes and while the first four vintages were good, a couple with Douro bake and a couple not all that exciting, 1994 is like the birth of Vesuvio's modern day image. I realize this property is ancient, but 1994 was a home run for the Symington family and many of us put this Vesuvio up with some of the biggest names in the Port trade, when it comes to this particular vintage. Many excellent years have followed. I was sorry to see my 2015 rating lower than my typically enthusiastic review, and I look forward to try this again.

Glad to read this has made a comeback. For some years this was in a closed phase and not showing its best, as it did for so long prior. Guess I'll have to pull one soon and give it a go again. Of course, that may be a bad idea as I'll probably want to drink more than one bottle in the near future as a result....so hard to keep the hands off good VP!

Andy, face the facts.

You would likely want to go and grab a 2nd bottle as soon as you slurped down the first bottle.

Roy Hersh wrote:Andy, face the facts.

You would likely want to go and grab a 2nd bottle as soon as you slurped down the first bottle.

Hah! Very true.

As a side. I've had a bottle of this that was Douro baked. Short version is some friends and I found a bottle stored without any cooling in the Douro Superior since it was bottled. Not a good showing of it by any means. However, It was a great learning experience about true Douro Bake. Love when learning experiences like that happen.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Especially for a bottle that hopefully you didn't have to pay for!

Was this in someone's cellar or at a store? No need to get too specific, just curious.