1958 Dow

[Alex Bridgeman]

The first time I have seen Dow 1958. This was a bottle acquired from the cellar of a Social Club in Watlington that was being cleared by a developer. The bottle was opened immediately due to the fact that it was ullaged down by about 1/3rd. The bottle was opened with a port garotte and the cork extracted intact, clearly branded as ""Dow 1958 vintage"". The very pale wine was decanted off some heavy sediment and was a crystal clear but very pale straw colour.

After an hour in the decanter the wine had gained some colour, but with still very little red in the wine. On the nose it was extremely hot and in the mouth the alcohol also showed through strongly. There was still some acidic structure to the wine and some tertiary brown sugar flavours, but the wine was very faded. The aftertaste started with a big burn but then delivered a very nice, long and lingering collection of licorice flavours that was certainly the high spot of the bottle. Worth drinking up. 23 April 2009.