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2017 Dow's - Vintage Port
Dow's
SKU 81482

2017 Dow's - Vintage Port

$109.00 - $109.00
$109.00
$109.00 - $109.00
$109.00
Availability:
Only 6 left!

Dow's traces its name to the 1877 merger of Silva & Cosens with Dow & Co, when James R. Dow's tasting expertise, Edward da Silva's financial acumen, and winemaker George Warre's skill combined to build one of the Port trade's most respected houses. The Oxford scholar George Saintsbury later singled out Dow's as unmatched among shipper wines of its era. Today the estate remains in the hands of the Symington family, with winemaker Charles Symington overseeing Vintage Port releases sourced chiefly from Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira, the twin properties that define the house's classic, drier style.

The 2017 growing season was exceptionally dry, yielding small, concentrated berries and one of the earliest harvests on record for the estate. Following 2016, this marked a rare back-to-back declaration for Dow's, made only when conditions prove truly outstanding. The blend leans on Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, rounded out by Sousão and Alicante Bouschet from both estates, foot-trodden in traditional lagares before fortification and aged around eighteen months in seasoned oak vats prior to bottling.

The wine shows striking depth of color alongside fresh floral aromas of wild rockrose, layered with smoky spice, toasted nougat, ripe fig, and candied orange zest. On the palate it is full-bodied and powerful, with ripe black fruit balanced by fine, peppery schist-driven tannins that carry through a long, lingering finish. It pairs well with roasted pecans, a hard aged cheese, or a spiced orange dessert.

(94-96) Points
"The 2017 Vintage Port, bottled in May for release in the third quarter of 2019, is mostly a 42/38 blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca with old vines and miscellaneous others (including about 8% Alicante Bouschet) for the rest. It was bottled about a month before this tasting after 18 months in seasoned vats, but the just-bottled sample was not actually used for fear it might be in shock. This, accordingly, was actually a pre-bottling sample. It comes in with 106 grams of residual sugar.



Opening with dramatic color, this adds violets on the nose. It retains elegance while seeming subtly concentrated rather than jammy. Then, it finishes with pop and controlled power. For those who remember the powerhouse Dows in the past, that's not quite this for the most part. It is an accessible and elegant Dow, relatively speaking. Charles Symington said that the higher proportion of Touriga Franca compared to some years contributed to that. That said, this still has the structure to age and develop. It seems wonderfully fresh and lifted all the while, but it's neither rich, nor intense nor austere. This is a Dow that still needs some time to become more expressive and complex, though. There were 5,250 cases produced."
—Mark Squires-Wine Spectator
Appellation: Vintage Port
Vintage: 2017
Variety: Port
Region: Porto
Country: Portugal
Bottle Size: 750ml
Producer: Dow's
Dow's

Dow's traces its name to the 1877 merger of Silva & Cosens with Dow & Co, when James R. Dow's tasting expertise, Edward da Silva's financial acumen, and winemaker George Warre's skill combined to build one of the Port trade's most respected houses. The Oxford scholar George Saintsbury later singled out Dow's as unmatched among shipper wines of its era. Today the estate remains in the hands of the Symington family, with winemaker Charles Symington overseeing Vintage Port releases sourced chiefly from Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira, the twin properties that define the house's classic, drier style.

The 2017 growing season was exceptionally dry, yielding small, concentrated berries and one of the earliest harvests on record for the estate. Following 2016, this marked a rare back-to-back declaration for Dow's, made only when conditions prove truly outstanding. The blend leans on Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca, rounded out by Sousão and Alicante Bouschet from both estates, foot-trodden in traditional lagares before fortification and aged around eighteen months in seasoned oak vats prior to bottling.

The wine shows striking depth of color alongside fresh floral aromas of wild rockrose, layered with smoky spice, toasted nougat, ripe fig, and candied orange zest. On the palate it is full-bodied and powerful, with ripe black fruit balanced by fine, peppery schist-driven tannins that carry through a long, lingering finish. It pairs well with roasted pecans, a hard aged cheese, or a spiced orange dessert.

(94-96) Points
"The 2017 Vintage Port, bottled in May for release in the third quarter of 2019, is mostly a 42/38 blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca with old vines and miscellaneous others (including about 8% Alicante Bouschet) for the rest. It was bottled about a month before this tasting after 18 months in seasoned vats, but the just-bottled sample was not actually used for fear it might be in shock. This, accordingly, was actually a pre-bottling sample. It comes in with 106 grams of residual sugar.



Opening with dramatic color, this adds violets on the nose. It retains elegance while seeming subtly concentrated rather than jammy. Then, it finishes with pop and controlled power. For those who remember the powerhouse Dows in the past, that's not quite this for the most part. It is an accessible and elegant Dow, relatively speaking. Charles Symington said that the higher proportion of Touriga Franca compared to some years contributed to that. That said, this still has the structure to age and develop. It seems wonderfully fresh and lifted all the while, but it's neither rich, nor intense nor austere. This is a Dow that still needs some time to become more expressive and complex, though. There were 5,250 cases produced."
—Mark Squires-Wine Spectator
Appellation: Vintage Port
Vintage: 2017
Variety: Port
Region: Porto
Country: Portugal
Bottle Size: 750ml
Producer: Dow's