Dow's 2017 (375ML)

98 VM / 98 JS / 97 DE / 96 WS / 94-96 WA / 18 JR

The 2017 Dow’s Vintage Port showed a slight reduction and required more time to really open in the glass. Typical of Dow’s it has a more backward and introspective bouquet compared to its peers, scents of blackberry, clove, wild mint, cassis and vanilla, gradually gaining more intensity with aeration. The palate is simply glorious. It is built around a compelling tannic frame that seems finer than any Dow’s I have encountered apart from the ethereal 2011. There is so much energy coiled up in this Port, a sense of symmetry that is enthralling and yet you just know that it needs to be cellared for 15-20 years for it to reveal its full potential. For serious Port-lovers. One of the vintages most cerebral offerings. Total production is 5,250 cases. - Neal Martin, Vinous Media

Pure grape aromas that remind me of fermenting must but then goes to stems and dried flowers. Full-bodied, medium sweet with fine-grained tannins that coat your palate. Powerful and muscular yet remains agile and beautiful. Grows on your palate. Wonderful ripe fruit in the middle palate. Try after 2030. - James Suckling

Based on fruit from the predominantly south-facing Quinta do Bomfim in the Cima Corgo and Quinta Senhora da Ribeira in the Douro Superior, with Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca making up 80% of the blend. This is opaque and closed in but powerfully ripe with underlying pure berry fruit. It's seemingly quite introverted compared to some of its peers at this stage, but it's still full, rich and opulent on the palate. It also shows the latent power of the vintage, made as it is in a slightly drier style (3.4 Baumé), with lovely minty fruit and full, ripe sinewy tannins all the way through the finish. Long and lithe, and very fine. - Richard Mayson, Decanter

A dense, thickly textured version, dripping with warm salted licorice, tar and açaí paste notes, while plum and blueberry pâte de fruit, chai spice and chocolate elements fill in behind. Lots of brambly grip flows underneath. Shows a very sappy feel on the finish. Best from 2035 through 2055. - James Molesworth, Wine Spectator

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 Advocate

5,250 cases = 16% of Dow’s total vineyard production. Dow’s has for over a century been a blend of fruit from two properties: Quinta do Bomfim, near Pinhão, and Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira in the Douro Superior. In recent years, two other properties — Quinta da Cerdeira (south-facing) and Quinta do Cabeço (various aspects) — both of which are a few kilometres from Senhora da Ribeira, have made important contributions to the blend. In 2017, the mature plantings of Touriga Nacional from the east-facing Vinha Grande parcels at Senhora da Ribeira made an important contribution thanks to the well-developed root systems of the older vines and the cooler aspect of the vineyards. Some varieties are fermented separately, others co-fermented – in 2017 there was a co-ferment of Sousão and Touriga Franca. Quinta do Bomfim 43%, Quinta Da Senhora da Ribeira 38%, Quinta do Cabeço 12%, Quinta da Cerdeira 7%. Touriga Nacional 42%, Touriga Franca 38%, Sousão 9%, old mixed vines (field blend) 8%, Alicante Bouschet 3%. TA 4.24 g/l, Baumé 3.4. Bottled May 2019.

Black core with purple rim. Very different from the Stone Terraces just tasted, sweet and somehow more lifted as if more volatile. Hedgerow fruits on the nose, floral too, and again that real sweetness of fruit on the palate. Intense, firmly built but very generous in its sweet fruit character even if not analytically sweeter. Fine-grained but still grainy tannins with some hints of dried fruits on the finish. When I tasted this a second time on a different occasion, it seemed much fresher and more vibrant so I increased my score and lengthened the drinking window. (JH) Jancis Robinson . com