Vesuvio Wine

[Frederick Blais]

As reported on : A GOOD NOSE http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... f=1&t=5835

Quinta do Vesuvio: D.O.C. Table Wine Announced

Quinta do Vesuvio, owned by Symington Family Estates and famed for its iconic Port wine, is to release a premium D.O.C. table wine in late 2008. This legendary estate has an impeccable Ferreira Port pedigree dating back to the nineteenth century. Since the late 1990's, Vesuvio has been contributing premium grapes to the elegantly styled Chryseia and Post Scriptum, a successful joint venture with Bruno Prats of Cos d'Estournel fame. These two limited production red wines, made by French winemaker Stéphane Point, sell in the manner of a fine Cru Classé via the Bordeaux place. They sit at the apex of an S.F.E. portfolio of red table wines, whose combined annual sales already exceed 2 million Euros. The first large scale foray by Symington into table wine was Altano, a now well established brand whose commercial life began in early 2001.

Symington's Douro hectares under vine now approach nearly 1000 (2,500 acres) and encompass historical brands Warres, Dow's and Graham's. The company have ample modern facilities to handle volume production as well as hand-crafted single estate wines made with indigenous varietals after the classic French model.

Though Symington's core business remains fine Port wines, they see D.O.C. table wines as a very important element in their impressive portfolio. Until January 2008, Symington Family Estates enjoyed a successful partnership with João van Zeller at Quinta de Roriz, another of the Douro's single Quintas with a fabulous reputation. Rupert Symington, a senior director of the family firm, recently declared "when we introduce the new Vesuvio wine we believe it will coexist comfortably with Chryseia. Vesuvio is actually a separate company and will stand on its own, like a third leg... along with Altano. We have sorted out production facilities where we can combine our full range of premium wines, without conflict - the decks are cleared for producing a great Vesuvio"

This exciting development has made it possible for A Good Nose.Com to build an illustrated micro-site dedicated to the Vesuvio D.O.C. wine, within our New Douro section. The first illustrated material on the birth of Quinta do Vesuvio D.O.C. will launch later this summer and I am delighted to confirm we will have a full harvest report and Vesuvio ‘vindima gallery' online in October.

[Andy Velebil]

They have plenty of grapes at Vesuvio to do a table wine and not even come close to effecting the quality of grapes for their VP. I look forward to trying it in the near future.

[Frederick Blais]

yes I think that most of the replanting that took place since the bought the estate was for bulk wines or sell it. Now there should be enough vines of good quality to produce a dry wine and a top quality Port.

[Andy Velebil]

Yes, when we were there during the 2006 Harvest Tour I was surprised to learn exactly how massive the property is. Standing at the highest point, I could barely see the Quinta house and winery below. There was just thousands of Vesuvio vines as far as the eye could see.

I've also enjoyed the Altano, which is a very solid QPR Douro red wine. So I am really looking forward to see how this is.

[Ronald Wortel]

I heard that they were planning this, and I really look forward to tasting the wine once it is on the market!

I'm sure that the Symington's are very keen on producing a top quality wine, thus keeping the Vesuvio name on the highest level.

[Moses Botbol]

I've also enjoyed the Altano, which is a very solid QPR Douro red wine. So I am really looking forward to see how this is.

Same here, I have a couple cases at home!

[Roy Hersh]

I am glad that you are checking out A Good Nose ... a great project!

I am surprised that Fred did not notice when I broke the news about the Vesuvio DOC wine a few months ago in the newsletter and may have even mentioned it here in the Forum. But certainly it was before the summer in the newsletter.

[Frederick Blais]

I am glad that you are checking out A Good Nose ... a great project!

I am surprised that Fred did not notice when I broke the news about the Vesuvio DOC wine a few months ago in the newsletter and may have even mentioned it here in the Forum. But certainly it was before the summer in the newsletter.

As you know I've met David last year and we did share 2-3 days togheter at Napoles having a lot of fun shooting the harvesters. We could probably write articles about the behavior of some of the most experienced ladies on how to avoid the camera

I'm badly trying to stay up to date with wath is going on on the forum, and I have to admit unfortunately that I miss the time to completly read the newsletter. Commitment to a new job, 2 other wine forums and 2 side line projects not in correlation with port is making my available time scarce since April

[David S. Eley]

Hi Fred,

As you will probably be aware this represents my inaugural toe dipping into Roy's lagar and I sense this is a rather good topic to start with.

I think the new Vesuvio D.O.C. will mark a watershed for S.F.E. - their two other limited production premium wines are/were both joint ventures, respectively with Bruno Prats and Chryseia/Post Scriptum, which goes from strength to strength, and of course, the now amicably dissolved partnership with Johnny van Zeller at the great Roriz.

I cannot imagine this new Vesuvio will not live up to expectation as the project has been incubating for a long time, and I also sense it is important to the Symington family. The Vesuvio marque spells quality and offers a golden opportunity to stamp some old world superiority akin to a Bordeaux Cru Classé, on the New Classic wines of the Douro. It is essential that Douro D.O.C. wines continue to lay claim to the higher ground - Port lends great credibility to this region as we all recognise, and with star winemakers like Dirk Niepoort, Crasto, João Brito e Cunha, Sandra Tavares da Silva, Jorge Moreira et al... along with the many others in this growing portfolio of single Quintas creating excellent wines, the future looks extremely bright.

Port wine remains the solid bedrock on which all of this D.O.C. excitement is founded, the wisest producers in the Douro recognize the importance of maintaining a healthy Port production and the two strands should work in harmony. One must not be foresaken for the other, especially as Port wine effectively enables and to a great extent, underwrites table wine production. I hope the new interest in this exciting generation of winemakers will build a brand new following for Port in the medium term - Vesuvio D.O.C. is one more step in the right direction.

[Roy Hersh]

David,

Nice to see you visiting!

There's no doubt that without Port there is no Douro DOC wine today. The two of course, are not mutually exclusive, although there is no reliance on DOC wines for Port. We all know of the subsidies that are in place that challenge the region in some ways and will eventually force modifications to the exisiting Beneficio regulations.

The many rising stars within the Douro, men and women wine makers and Port makers ... is starting to put faces behind the names ... in the main stream. Hopefully, with voices such as yours and others, the clamoring for even better quality from the Douro and other wine regions of Portugal, will even further spur the wine industry to reach a higher level of quality overall. Given the total number of producers there is still a lot of room on the upside of the quality scale. Fortunately, during the past 5-10 years, things have taken an exponential leap. May it long continue!

Personally, given the size of the property and care put into the viticulture at Vesuvio, I have little doubt that the wine will be stellar. I am very excited for the launch of this new wine. The Symington's have yet to blow me away with any of their table wines and I hope Vesuvio will change that. I like Chryseia, but find it a bit too "international" stylistically and not Douro-enough. Maybe it is the oak treatment? But I've had all of their table wines and so far, especially at the top end of the spectrum, have not been overwhelmed. So far the most impressive table wines have been the "value oriented" DOC bottlings.

Nice to have you here in our friendly lagar and we will look forward to some lively discussions!

[Frederick Blais]

I got a chat recently with someone with some distant eyes on the project. It has been in their mind for a few years and recently they think the quality is starting to show up. One thing is certain, they will only put into Vesuvio Label the very best of what they think they can achieve. Yet the product should improve from what it will taste on first release. The first release date is tentative as the quality of the current wine is still evaluated. It should be at least on par with Chryseia for the quality, better or not, sometimes it depends on your palate, but the Vesuvio dry wine should have a distinct characteristic of the Douro while the Chryseia will remain a more international style wine produced in the Douro.

Anyone had access to samples yet of this project or has plan to do? I'll do my best to have access to it but there is not much leaking around this or certainty to have a chance to taste it either at Vesuvio or at the Lodges in Gaia.

[Andy Velebil]

i do hope it has more Douro flare. I'm not a major fan of the Chryseia style, which IMO is not distinctive and lacks that Douro side to it.