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Vertical of Dow, and two bottles of Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira, on Tuesday 7th September 2010, at The Crusting Pipe. Links:

• Review of the evening as a whole;
• Placemats;
• Dow 1958;
• Dow 1963;
• Dow 1966;
• Dow 1970;
• Dow 1972;
• Dow 1977;
• Dow 1980;
• Dow 1983;
• Dow 1985;
• Dow 1991;
• Sandeman 1982 (a late addition, replacing a Dow 1994, a Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira 2006, and a Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira 2008);
• Planning and arrangements.

After placemats were printed AHB said that both the Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira should be saved for another day. Please could somebody confirm that I should delete those TN threads.

Were there any other changes?

jdaw1 wrote:After placemats were printed AHB said that both the Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira should be saved for another day. Please could somebody confirm that I should delete those TN threads.

Yes, and the 1994, too . We did add a Sandeman 1982, though, but I'm not sure if anyone took a tasting note.

Jacob, my young padwan, of course someone took a note. I just have to find time to type them all up...

A fascinating evening's drinking. No easy winner, really, as they were all very good or at least very promising, with the exception of the '77 which was sadly corked. Note to self is that the Dow style is a little too dry.

angeleyes wrote: with the exception of the '77 which was sadly corked.

Good to hear it was a good time. And sad about the 77 being cork, which is no surprise as it has quite the corked rate.

So, what to think about Dow?

With the exception of the ’77 and the ’91 the wines were all showing nicely, with the minor years (’58 and ’72) being unexpectedly excellent. Compared to other, similar, tastings (such as Warre or Vesuvio), there wasn’t a notable gradient of maturity from young to old, and there wasn’t a particular ‟house style” which I could detect beyond one thing: the dryness. Almost all of these wines could, I think, benefit from being a little sweeter and being a little more expressive with the fruit (particularly the ’63 and ’66.). There seemed to be a lack of the lusciousness that comes through in older Ports from other houses. That said, I do wonder if I suffered an acute form of label-bias in this tasting. If I was doing it blind, would I be able to work out which was which? I’m not sure. At some stage I think we should do a blind double-vertical of Dow v. Graham’s (or another suitably sweet house) to see...

Hi there,

I found the tasting was brilliant and the most Ports (except the 1977 and 1991) showing very well indeed. Also I do not find the DOW VP too dry. I like the Dow VP exactly as they are. They are a bit more dominated by their body and structure. But this is exactly the charming bit about them. Alao this is in my eyes really dependent on your own preferance and taste. In addition in my case it depends mainly what mood I am in which then leads to what sort of wine/port I have.
Overall I found in the end the 1970 Dow for me sticking out. In the beginning I thought the 1966 would do it for me but lost its appeal during the evening. This was still a very good wine followed by 1963 and 1958. Dow 1980 is a brilliant Port but I fould it rather closed on this evening. Needs another 30 years

regards

WS1

I've just realsed that I didn't give a review of the evening. It was another terrific evening and a delight to meet Rob Coombes, who joined an offline for the first time and just fitted right in! And Rob is the only person I have ever met who was crazy enough to cycle that mountainous terrain that the vines of the Douro grow in.

This was a great tasting. It's a real shame that Chris was too busy to join us as he has been underwhelmed by many of the wines we've had in the last few months. I really enjoyed quite a few of these wines, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the 1958 and 1972 - neither of which have a reputation of any repute.

My wine of the night was the 1966; I just loved that as a wine for drinking today. The 1980 is the dark and brooding moster that we all know it to be. One day, that will be a great wine - but not yet.

It was great to be able to taste such a range of Dow vintages and in such relaxed and pleasant company. Roll on our next offline - the 55 @ 55 on October 12th.

Very sorry to have had to miss out on what seems by all accounts to have been a cracking evening. I have very much enjoyed my experiences with Dow's in the past, and continue to consider them among the best producers of port when considering their value and consistently high quality (the one major exception being the '77, which which I have only had dissapointing experiences). I literally cannot remember the last time I've consumed port, and am terribly eager for our event on the 12th.

Hope to catch up with you all soon.

Sorry to reply so late.

Thanks to you all and especially to AHB, I did not miss the tasting somehow. For me the WOTN was clearly the 66. More along. Greetings from Nice

Axel