Dow Dow Porto Fine Tawny, Portugal, Douro, Porto

Briefly, for me decent everyday port. Better on day 2 after it loses some initial rather dominant sweetness. All rather generic but no complaints at the ~US$34 that I paid.

Medium garnet in the glass Nose is intense with alcohol heat, dried prunes, raisins, caramel, molasses, and toffee, cherry cough syrup Palate is intense and pronounced with low acid and sweet flavors. Prunes, raisins, cherry cough syrup and caramel. Full bodied, high alcohol and long finish

Polished brown center fading to brilliant orange-amber edges. Rich aromatics unfold in the glass: honeysuckle provides delicate floral elegance, butterscotch and caramel add sweetness, toasted walnuts and hazelnuts contribute savory depth. Hints of orange marmalade, and tobacco leaf emerge. Medium-bodied with finesse; round, slightly viscous, yet vibrant and zesty. The palate delivers concentrated flavors: dried fig, date, and almond.

Deep amber red, a tad transparent. Slow trails. Smells strongly of raisins and dates with caramel. Complex sweetness with some citrus like notes dancing in dates, slowly shifting into caramel sweetness. Some strong grape notes stand out front which slowly transform into toffee smokey floral notes.

-- decanted immediately before initial taste -- -- tasted non-blind over 1 hour -- -- from 375 mL -- NOSE: fragrant; cool sweet cherry; hint of mint; touch of bottle mustiness; lots of fruit; light cigar. BODY: great color considering the age and format; medium to medium-full bodied. TASTE: cherry cough syrup; alc. is spiky; smooth; drinking great -- surprisingly great, given vintage, format, and the fact that the previous bottle from this lot was less youthful. Excellent. Drink or …

1980 vintage

In a great place. Not as sweet as Fonseca or Graham, very balanced, and the alcohol is not obtrusive, although it became more noticeable on the second and third nights. One of the best ports I have drunk in the past several years. I suspect it is at its peak.

1970 vintage

Good

1991 vintage

Purchased from Hedonism wines in Mayfair two days ago for 75 pounds. After peeling off the foil, we discovered some white mold atop the cork. The cork crumbled. Bigly. It is saturated 80% to the top. Immediately after pouring, the wine is a medium ruby red (rather opaque, although my brother says it's a light ruby). On the nose, it is high in alcohol, with notes of vanilla, and Jamaican rum. Immediate tasting is very harsh and classic oak. 15m …

1983 vintage

Bottled in 1972 for Berry brothers and Rudd. Decanted through muslin, a vey heavy throw- I had this bottle almost 50 years now I am nearly 77 I thought I should drink it before it was too late for me to enjoy it!. While decanting it looked quite clear now in the ships decanter it is a very dark toffee colour! I I’ll leave it for an hour

1970 vintage

Very nice with Carmel, bright fruit, spices, dried flowers and dark chocolate. Solid.

Decanted for 3 hours prior to tasting. Sound cork, into neck fill. Strawberry and raspberry cough syrup on the nose, hint of spirit, herbs. The palate is full of hard candy red fruits, slight cough syrup pungency, bit of spiritiness coming out in the middle, some cedar-y tannins, fruit leather-y close. Overall, a touch spirit-y, still fruity with pretty resolved tannins. A good wine of the vintage in a good place and likely on a good plateau by this showing.

1983 vintage

Drinking beautifully right now and still so much primary, fresh fruit. Layers of dried fruit, caramel, toffee, hazelnut, and walnut develop over an extremely long finish. As complex as a great cocktail. Decanted ~1hr and drank over the next hour. Had over several nights with vacuvin seal in between.

1991 vintage

This was all the more of a treat in that my only previous chance to taste this wine, a year and a half ago, was defeated by a tainted cork. It was worth the wait! Immediately after opening, this seemed completely muffled and very disappointing--it needed about 40 minutes in the glass (or the equivalent in a decanter), during which, very briefly, this was dominated by tobacco (ten minutes later this was completely gone), to wake up. Then spice cake, …

1983 vintage

See tasting note from 2023. Identical.

I normally like Dows, this one was a tad lacking. The color and nose lean towards a younger 20 year. Low acidity made it unbalanced and flabby. Not an enjoyable wine, but not a bad wine.

This bottle showed extremely well. crumbling cork under the two capsules, but the Port was beautiful: minimal browning, bright fruit. This suggests significant aging potential, but I see a lot of bottle variation.

1983 vintage

Toffee and caramel on the nose, sweet nutty and mellow in the palate. Very nice to pair with a fruit shortcake.

Wedding port, crowd pleaser worked great with epoisses and Stilton. Not so much charouce and yarg

2024 Pre-Christmas lunch at Con and Marie’s place (Wellington, NZ) : Served double blind by Con. Primary ruby colour. Spices, sweet red liquorice, Christmas cake and a touch of tobacco. In the mouth, a sweet core or ripe red berries, cherries and plums. Raisins, red liquorice and some prunes. Alcohol and sweetness not over-powering. Refreshing acidity. Good body and volume. Seamless. Drinking well on the day, but it’ll drink like this, if stored, for many years.

1983 vintage

A little caramel on the nose and the first part of taste was not much but opened up midpalate to finish with caramel and spices. This was a half bottle that cost $13.79 back in the day. Had this with dessert at Le Virtú in Philly.

1991 vintage

Bottled in 2021, 20% vol. Enjoyed slightly cooled (12-14°C) over several days. Walnut, fig, licorice and sour cherry (sour cherry mainly on day 2), good freshness, creamy, nice bitter note and long finish, everything in perfect balance. Textbook tawny and a good purchase for the money, best on the first 2 days.

An Eclectic Private Dinner : So fresh for 65 years. Quite bright red fruit and fig. Super balanced. 95

1970 vintage

While the lack of experience might result in a biased response, this is by far the best port I’ve tasted so far, curious to try the older versions

Saturated cork. Nearly got it out in one - I was so patient but it was a touch longer than I expected! Decanted through a fine strainer - very pale. Rinsed bottle (lots of large formation sediments), and poured back in. Enjoyed the Port over the next few days: Christmas Day: Pure ruby appearance, quite youthful and followed on the nose, which was broadly of red fruits, some crunchy reds in there too. Some spirit, maybe a hint of old …

1970 vintage

Drank over 3 weeks. Lost slight bit of character in the latter phase of that span. Always a solid inexpensive 10 year. This, Noval, and Sandeman really do it for me especially, and Dow tends to be the best value of those three.

cheers - saturated cork, broke at the bottom, not a surprise as the foil was sticky on the outside....light brick red, lots of sediment, decanted, cleaned bottle, and poured back in....just an incredibly smooth port bursting with flavor....one of my favorite ports ever....luckily, I have another!

1970 vintage

Bad cork

1991 vintage

Stored in a cold cellar since release. Cork broke. High fill. What a difference a bottle makes! Lovely bouquet. Fruit, depth, intensity, complexity, great length and balance. Marvellous vintage port.

1983 vintage

Continuing the trend of top bottles of this wine. Elegant, sweet with tobacco / licorice countermeasures. Lingered for minutes. Great port. (95)

1983 vintage

Raisiny, pruney, sweet, smoky. Porty. Nice.

1991 vintage

Beautiful amber color. The nose smells of warm rooibos tea, caramel, apple pie, along with clove, roasted nuts, toffee, and hints of earth and clay. The palate is plush and sweet with a lovely depth of texture and fresh acidity to keep things balanced out nicely. Flavors of fig paste, apple butter, candied orange peels, along with nuances of toffee, dark chocolate, and some cigar box. Suave, deep, complex, yet refreshing and so fun to sip. Lovely stuff.

Rich, deep ruby/tawny color. The nose exudes roasted figs, sweet dates, candied pecans, along with toffee, notes of honeyed tea, and some clove and light roast coffee. The palate is rich and suave with a mouthfeel moderated by the acidity, and flavors of yellow raisins, plum compote, and dried mango. Sweet but vibrant tannins with nuances of black tea, salted caramel, milk chocolate, and toffee. So smooth and pleasant.

Tastes quite aged with a strong mineral aspect. Pretty sure this was slightly corked.

1980 vintage

Peach Farm, from 375. Appropriate color for age. Initially tasted fine but then a very unpleasant taste that should not be in wine, not really rubbery but that kind of unpleasantness. It was present on opening/decanting and I hoped it would somehow blow off but a couple of hours later was no different.

1983 vintage

fine port in its prime. still plenty of tannin with the structure and fruit of Dow. better on the second and following days.

1983 vintage

You'd never say this was 44 years old. Huge nose. Slightly medicinal. Spicy on the one hand (cinnamon), and liquorice, figs and raisins on the other. Impressively clean and youthful. You want more and more. Superb.

1980 vintage

This particular bottle was bottled in 1972, and was acquired from the Symington Family's cellar/collection and stored in favorable temps since that time. The cork was saturated, and the wine had some FUNK. Poured through an unbleached coffee filter to a decanter, bottle cleaned, dried, and wine poured back in. Stoppered and served about 4 hours later. This wine was paired with a bourbon pecan pie, and oh man it was great. I am really not a very big port …

1970 vintage

Another delightful example of '83 Dow; blackberry, black pepper, caramel, just the right amount of spirit. Satisfying to the last drop.

1983 vintage

Dow's (Luna Lu, The Rocks) : Very tawny, sweet spice, walnuts, figs, cedar, slight alcohol prickle, red over black fruits, touch of savoury underpin. Juicy, off-dry, red over black fruits, tiny toffee apple, sweet spices, woody texture tugs at the mid palate, simple. Okay.

Dow's (Luna Lu, The Rocks) : herbaceous, amaro bitters, alcohol prickle, woody spices, with time black hued fruits, start to show, black liquorice, the fruit is slightly baked. Sweet with drying woody texture that is quite chalky and pleasing, baked but, interestingly, not jammy fruit, star anise and black liquorice, alcohol warmth is a little intrusive on the finish.

We used this 20 year old Dow Tawny Port to prepare a port reduction sauce for a tenderloin for a Vintage 2014 Bordeaux Tasting, 10 year on, at our home. Needless to say, we had to try it prior to using it. Truly delicious, with solid hints of dried figs, pears, moderate body with a sweet lingering aftertaste.

Calabria Trade Tasting (Le Montage, The Marquee, Lilyfield) : Oxidised notes are a little intrusive, plum, black berry red fruits, herbaceous notes. Rich, chewy tannins, slightly bitter, dilute though, simple, very entry level. Meh.

Enjoyed the '91 Dow in a warm resort setting in Indonesia. Bottle was well kept (perfect cork, min ullage) delicious albeit on the lighter side (fine for the climate); christmas pudding character though not particularly long. Nice colour from the other writeups seems past its zenith so should be drunk sooner than later.

1991 vintage

It was a so nice to have a well made, mature Port that was not still black in colour and had a clear definition of sweet fruit but well balanced. Mid weight and not dramatically complex but really charming.

1991 vintage

Purchased for $55. Slightly not expensive than a few of the other 20-Year Tawnies we've recently had, but nowhere near the most expensive. Beautiful maple/mahogany in color. This is pretty straight forward... Dates and hazelnut notes. Both on the palate and on the nose. There's a citrus-like acidity, which really makes your mouth water. Oh the dry side of the sweetness scale, and quite far on the dry spectrum. Typical for the Dow's house style. Medium finish. Very nice 20-Year, …

Stored in a cold cellar since release. Cork broke but no leakage. Subdued bouquet. Light good balance with just about sufficient length. Clearly not a great vintage. No spirit showing through. Drink very soon.

1983 vintage

Lovely burnt orange color. Taste of almond and a bit of raisin, generally on the light and dry side, pretty harsh/hot. After 3-4h decanting it mellows a bit but also seems to lose some complexity, burn still strong enough to overshadow other notes.

Opened with port tongs and decanted 4 hours before first drinking. Good at that time but improved much with further breathing. Best sip was the last, a week after opening. Taste is superb, the best thing about this wine. Mouth feel is a bit thin. Not tremendously complex, but has an elegant balance of fruit, sweetness (on the low side), and aged-port character.

1983 vintage

Wow, this is hitting above its weight. Nutty, chocolatey, crunchy red fruits and smooth overall. Alcohol is very well integrated.

A subtly tainted cork--the sort where you suspect cork taint from the start, but keep hoping you're wrong and that the wine will improve with more air. Eventually you're forced to admit to yourself that you were right from the start, even though you didn't want to be. Alas. Then down the sink.

1983 vintage

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Dow Dow Porto Fine Tawny, Portugal, Douro, Porto

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