2016 Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port

WS97 Densely packed and dark in profile, with lots of warmed fig, mulled blueberry, açai berry and blackberry paste flavors rolling through, scored with graphite and tar notes, carrying through a finish that has a smoldering feel. A long licorice snap echo adds a lip-smacking hint. A terrific young Port.
WA96 The 2016 Vintage Port is a blend of 43% Touriga Nacional, 25% Touriga Franca and 17% Alicante Bouschet, with Tinta Amarela and Sousão filling out the rest. It comes in with 115 grams of residual sugar. If this Quinta has a hallmark to me, it is the expressive, gorgeous fruit. It has a seductive feel, but it is also muscular and intense. It is one of the most muscular in the Symington stable this year, with the concentration to soak up the power. I’d give this the nod for the moment over the 2015, but they are pretty close, granting that I do not have them side by side. They may wind up in more or less the same place overall in the long run. We’ll see. That said, this seems superb. Bottled in May 2018 and to be released in October 2018, there were 1,220 cases produced.