Tuesday 7th September - Dow Vertical at TCP

[uncle tom]

Dow were a bit careless in their early post war years when it came to distinguishing between the blend and Bomfim. I think, (I may be wrong..) that the '58 was a Bomfim and not a declared blend.

'94 falls below my normal radar for maturation (just..), but I recently had the opportunity to compare Dow '85 with Vesuvio '94, and was struck by the similarity of their maturity. It would therefore be interesting to see how the Dow '94 compares with its older siblings..

Tom

[Alex Bridgeman]

OK chaps. I've updated the title to reflect the date and theme.

Rather than ask Tom to supply all the bottles, how about posting here what you would be able to contribute to the vertical and we'll try and share the burden between us - and recognise Wolfgang went beyond the call of duty by providing two bottles at last night's 1970 tasting.

I have '58, '63, '70, '77, '85 and '91.

[Chris Doty]

The only Dow in my UK arsenal is the 1994. Happy to seek others out as need be.

[uncle tom]

Axel has asked me to provide an '80 on his behalf, and I had better be the source of the '72, as they are hard to find.

Tom

[g-man]

Sad, that you guys can put together a dow tasting and have more interested parties then US in the states considering we've already filled out every dow from 60 onwards - the 72.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Sad, that you guys can put together a dow tasting and have more interested parties then US in the states considering we've already filled out every dow from 60 onwards - the 72.

So what are you guys doing and where on September 7th? Fancy a quick visit to the UK?

[Alex Bridgeman]

Here's a summary of the status of this tasting:

Venue - probably the Crusting Pipe, but not booked yet

Attending and wines - wines in bold are confirmed, wines in italics are available for adoption
AHB - 1958
AP - 1980 via Tom
BMHR - 1983
RLC - 1985 via Tom
CSD - 1994
JGH - 1977 via Alex
WS - 1963 via Alex
CMAG - 1970 via Tom
THRA - 1972 1975, 1960
MKD - 1991 via Tom

JDAW is not attending - 1977, 1970, 1966

[Axel P]

Alex, since the ports we are going to drink there are definitely not equally priced, should we start thinking about the guys (like I) contributing only the 80 to bring an additional bottle of another Vintage. If we see the average 10-15% bottle failure this should leave us with a bottle each.

Axel

[jdaw1]

These offlines (ie. not a tasting) have a habit of growing bigger uncontrollably.

Nonsense: the growth is entirely controlled. We keep stamping on the accelerator; it grows. Fabulous.

I like the idea of a complete lineup from X to Y. Does anyone have any preference as to when we start and when we finish? I have a Dow 1958 we could open so we have three choices:
(a) 1958 - 1991 (12 vintages, which we could manage even if only between 8 of us)
(b) 1960 - 1994
(c) something else

JDAW - 1966 1945

Spot the conflict! Presumably now seeking to fill 1945 to 1994.

[Alex Bridgeman]

I like the idea of a complete lineup from X to Y. Does anyone have any preference as to when we start and when we finish? I have a Dow 1958 we could open so we have three choices:
(a) 1958 - 1991 (12 vintages, which we could manage even if only between 8 of us)
(b) 1960 - 1994
(c) something else

JDAW - 1966 1945

Spot the conflict! Presumably now seeking to fill 1945 to 1994.

I see no conflict. Twelve vintages from 1945 fits neatly into category (c).

My reluctance to move beyond 12 vintages was based on 8 people attending on a school night. Now we are up to 10, it seems reasonable to expand the line-up to 15 vintages if there was general support to do so. However, getting hold of Dow from 1955, 1950 and 1948 will be challenging. It would be easier to run from 1958 through to 2000 and perhaps keep your 1945 for another tasting themed "Venerable Dow" where bottles qualify if it is at least 55 years since the harvest.

[uncle tom]

I recently secured a Dow '48, but in very poor condition; I had it in mind to drink it through at the xmas bash.

I could furnish a '55, although I only have two odd bottles, one of them re-corked.

The '50 would be the issue though - it is very rarely seen, and would be go for silly money at the moment (until the 60th birthday market expires at the end of the year..)

Maybe better to stick with the original time frame, and either add some Bomfims if attendance rises, or double up on the '60, '63, '66 & '70 with comparisons between Oporto and English bottlings..

Tom

[jdaw1]

double up on the '60, '63, '66 & '70 with comparisons between Oporto and English bottlings..

Any one of those vintages, with multiple UK bottlers, would be a tasting by itself.

See Comparing the bottlers on exactly this subject.

I am surprised that being the obsessive compulsives that we can be collectively, we have not pursued this with more vigour!

[WS1]

Hi there,

sorry for my late reply, but I was away fot the weekend. I think I have at my flat 1960, 1963, 1970, 1983, 1991 and 1985 (if I remember correctly the 1985 does belong to DrDirk and hence adpotion talks would need to take place )
However since I am moveing house in August it maybe difficult for me to find quickly the required bts. I am just not as organised as I should be. Hence I kindly ask for your understanding in advance and may need temporary adoption.
With regards to the number of bts I think the more bts the merrier

Just think in case we would run out again

regards

WS1

[jdaw1]

As well as ’45 and ’66, I also have ’70 and ’77, as do others.

[jdaw1]

First draft of the placemats. Much work to do.

• ”“Bottle labels;
• ”“Decanter labels;
• ”“Place names; but
• +Prepour sheets.

[Axel P]

I would be voting to put in one of the 55s from Tom and the 45 from Julian and split the costs.

Axel

[Alex Bridgeman]

I would be voting to put in one of the 55s from Tom and the 45 from Julian and split the costs.

Axel

I would prefer to have another Dow vertical at another time, one which looks to run through a complete (or as complete as we can get) vertical of Dow from the years before 1958. The reason that I say this is because we have several of the bottles we would need already. I have 1908 and 1934; Julian has 1945; Tom has 1955; in a year or two we should be able to buy 1950 quite cheaply; and then we might get lucky and be able to buy a 1912 or 1927 or get enough people together to make it worth buying and opening that 1896 20-bottle bottle that Julian knows about.

So my vote is to hold those really old bottles of Dow for another time.

[jdaw1]

I have semi-promised AHB that he will be there when the D45 is opened. Subject to that, I’ll go with consensus.

Also, because of the book research I know of a witty occasion, relating to the great depression, when Dow 1904 was opened. Let’s have one of those too.

[uncle tom]

I would prefer to have another Dow vertical at another time, one which looks to run through a complete (or as complete as we can get) vertical of Dow from the years before 1958. The reason that I say this is because we have several of the bottles we would need already. I have 1908 and 1934; Julian has 1945; Tom has 1955; in a year or two we should be able to buy 1950 quite cheaply; and then we might get lucky and be able to buy a 1912 or 1927 or get enough people together to make it worth buying and opening that 1896 20-bottle bottle that Julian knows about.

So my vote is to hold those really old bottles of Dow for another time

I would go along with that, and have a longer term plan to hold a classic Dow vertical with a member of the Symington family present.

Tom

[Deleted_User_1]

My contribution will be the Dow 1985 adopted from Tom

[Alex Bridgeman]

My contribution will be the Dow 1985 adopted from Tom

List dutifully updated

[Deleted_User_1]

First draft of the placemats. Much work to do.

• ”“Bottle labels;
• ”“Decanter labels;
• ”“Place names; but
• +Prepour sheets.

Just noticed a small correction required in that the D85 on the placemat shows AHB and should read RLC.

[jdaw1]

Updated draft of the placemats.

• Just noticed a small correction required in that the D85 on the placemat shows AHB and should read RLC.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Hi there,

sorry for my late reply, but I was away fot the weekend. I think I have at my flat 1960, 1963, 1970, 1983, 1991 and 1985 (if I remember correctly the 1985 does belong to DrDirk and hence adpotion talks would need to take place )
However since I am moveing house in August it maybe difficult for me to find quickly the required bts. I am just not as organised as I should be. Hence I kindly ask for your understanding in advance and may need temporary adoption.
With regards to the number of bts I think the more bts the merrier

Just think in case we would run out again

regards

WS1

Wolfgang,

How about I lend you a bottle of the Dow 1963, which you give back to me when your house move is complete and you have your wine collection back in order?

Alex

[Alex Bridgeman]

Subject to confirmation from Wolfgang and Jacob, the Dow line up shown here is the final line up for Tuesday fortnight.

Alex