For The Love Of Port

Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port [2000]
After trying the 1994 Vesuvio and finding it so young, vibrant and yet drinking so phenomenally, I just couldn’t resist the urge to try the 2000 VP to compare and contrast. Immediately after the cork was extracted beautiful bold blue and black fruits filled the room and made my mouth water. With almost no standout spirit, the Port jumped out of the gate young, fresh and vibrant with huge blueberries and blackberries.

14 hours later, at drinking time there was still no hint of spirit although there was a great deal of strong tannins that added some tartness to an otherwise fruit-dominated young Port. Acidity was present in what I think is sufficient quantities to make this one a VP that you will be glad to have in your cellar in 25, 35 or 45 years. I won’t touch another bottle of this for at least a decade and a half, but it was delicious and bold, if not a bit overly sweet at this point.

My score: 93+ pts

When I tasted this on release I was like OMG, this is one of the best Port I ever had this young. Then 2 years ago it just seem to shut out completely. It is nice to read that it is finaly emerging somehow to give great pleasure. I do think Vesuvio 2000 is probably the longest living port produced at the estate yet and I totally agree with the time estimate you provide.

Todd,

Great to see you post here again as I know how busy you've been. I love the 2000 and had a similar reaction to this as did Frederick. When tasting it in a comparison to many of its peers before release, it was one of the top handful of VPs from this excellent vintage.

I have one question for you: Which did you prefer ... the 1994 or 2000 Vesuvio and why?

Roy Hersh wrote:Todd,

Great to see you post here again as I know how busy you've been. I love the 2000 and had a similar reaction to this as did Frederick. When tasting it in a comparison to many of its peers before release, it was one of the top handful of VPs from this excellent vintage.

I have one question for you: Which did you prefer ... the 1994 or 2000 Vesuvio and why?

1994 by leaps and bounds.
I suspect this was because I love sweet stuff... and the 94 definitely qualifies as "sweet" of nothing short of amazing!

To be honest, one thing I did not write in the TN but remember, even to this moment... the 2000 Vesuvio was better with ZERO decant time than it was with the 8, 12 and 14 hrs when I sampled it next. The tannis and acidity had not yet had a chance to put in their appearance, which at this point, spoke volumes to me about being a very young Port with tremendous upside.

I managed to pick up 5 bottles of this at a very decent price for Edmonton prices at Costco Liquor Store where I live and I believe that I will sincerely appreciate that when my first son graduates from University in 2024 or beyond... and perhaps even when my youngest son graduates University in 2029+....

As far as how busy I am, it is all in preparing my resume for the upcoming layoffs (3500+ announced for 2009... whoopie!!!)