Dow's, Vintage Port, 2024

Dow’s never fails to impress. From inception in 1798 it has been a stalwart of the Douro valley. Part owned by the Symingtons from as early as 1912 and then bought outright in 1961, it has always been in steady hands. Known and admired for structure and a less visceral sweetness, it is serious and very long lived, typically the driest tasting of the classic Vintage Ports. Defined principally by two Quintas: Bomfim (in Pinhao) which delivers sculpted blackcurrant and cherry flavours, and Senhora da Ribeira in the eastern Douro, which provides a powerful and concentrated fruit character. Cherry, plum and savoury oak spice unfurl with blackcurrant, chocolate and schist on the palate. There is a beautiful peppery spice on the long sapid and structured finish. This is distinguished and measured, still cerebral at this early stage.