2018 Dow Porto Late Bottled Vintage

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 87.3 points

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View flse's profile
  • Report Issue

  5/2/2024 - flse Likes this wine: 84 Points

  Cherry, not too sweet. Good tannins.
  Very like tawny dee

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View forceberry's profile
  • Report Issue

  4/24/2024 - forceberry wrote: 90 Points

  A blend of Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Sousão, Tinta Barroca and Tinta Roriz from the estate vineyards at Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta da Senhora Ribeira. Vinified like Dow's Vintage Port, ie. in stainless steel lagares with automated grape treaders. The fermentation is halted at around 100 g/l residual sugar by the addition of aguardente. Aged in oak vats for five years, bottled filtered. 20% alcohol, 98 g/l residual sugar, 4,8 g/l acidity and pH 3,55.
  
  Youthful, deep, slightly translucent cherry-red color with a dark purplish hue. The nose feels sweet, vibrant and quite youthful with juicy, dark-toned aromas of ripe bilberries and boysenberries, some black cherries, a little bit of peppery spice, light dark plum tones, sweet hints of strawberry juice and raspberry jelly, a spirituous touch of aguardente and a whiff of dusty old wood. The wine feels youthful, fresh and slightly hot on the palate with a full body and intense, sweet flavors of blueberries and plum juice, some boysenberry jam, a little bit of peppery spice, light spirituous notes of aguardente, a hint of gravelly minerality and a touch of black tea. The overall feel is enjoyably firm and muscular, thanks to the rather high acidity and moderately grippy tannins. The finish is long, warm and juicy with moderately grippy tannins and a somewhat sweet aftertaste of boysenberry jam, some peppery spice, light gravelly mineral tones, a little bit of succulent dark plum, a hint of cherry marmalade and a touch of black tea. The wine ends on a rather sweet, somewhat grippy and quite warm note.
  
  This LBV is consistently one of the best in its genre. It might not be an unfiltered LBV meant to be aged, but it still packs enough fruit intensity, structure and concentration to be a wine that can not just keep but actually evolve for at least some years. Furthermore, the combination of Dow's slightly less sweet and more peppery overall style and good sense of structure make this feel surprisingly fresh and serious for a Port wine of such modest standing. Definitely my go-to LBVs and excellent value at just 16€.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

• Options

  • Post a Comment
  • View canan's profile
  • Report Issue

  12/8/2023 - canan wrote: 88 Points

  A bit disappointing but overall, a nice wine. Plenty of fruit and a good acidity but it is a bit anonymous and needs a bit of personality.
  Perhaps it will open up a bit more with age.

  Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment

Professional reviews have copyrights and you can view them here for your personal use only as private content. To view pro reviews you must either subscribe to a pre-integrated publication or manually enter reviews below. Learn more.