1966 Dow

[Alex Bridgeman]

Tasted as part of a 1966 / 1970 double horizontal of Dow, Fonseca, Graham and Warre.

Ex-cellars, removed from the Lodge cellar on 23/6/16. Decanted at 20.30, tasted after dinner finished at 23.00. Of the four shippers from this vintage, Fonseca was the darkest, Graham slightly lighter and Warre being darker than Dow. The latter three all being the garnet colour of polished redwood with this wine being about 40% opaque. The nose was gentle and full of pine forests, nicely developed and showing strongly, made more complex by a touch of rosemary. A little closed on entry with powerful dry tannins at the core. Late on the palate there is a lovely complexity of dried fruit and dried flowers. There is concentrated mandarin on the aftertaste and a great finish with considerable intensity. The intensity of fruit just shades the impression over the elegance this port has, but overall the Warre 1966 drunk alongside was more intense and more elegant. 93/100. 26-Jun-16. Decanted 3 hours.