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  • Country ranking ?

    82
  • Producer ranking ?

    3
  • Decanting time

    5h
  • When to drink

    from 2025

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

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The Story

Dow’s Vintage Ports are only produced in years of exceptional quality and represent only a very small part of the total company’s production in that year. On average only two or three times every ten years are the weather conditions sufficiently good to allow for the making of Dow’s Vintage Port.

 

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Dow’s Vintage Ports have been landmark wines in virtually every great year, consistently setting the ...

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Vintage 2016

The 2016 harvest in the Douro brought perfectly-timed rain that turned a good year into a great one. Fortunately, despite a challenging growing season and a much adjusted and delayed picking schedule, those producers with excellent vineyard knowledge and confident decision-making, were rewarded with spectacular Vintage Ports.

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Tasting note

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Written Notes

The immediate question for anyone tasting this port will be how does it compare with their legendary 2011. For me, different but equally exciting, though one could argue that the more powerful vintage in ’11 was more suited to the style of Dow’s than the elegance we find in 2016. That said, it seems to have made little difference. Dark fruits here, blueberries, some warm earth, grapeseed and chocolate. The wine exhibits the Dow’s’ austerity and power, matched with richness of flavour and incredible length, and yet remains seamless throughout. This is the ultimate iron fist in a velvet glove. A second tasting revealed a fraction more spiciness, notably a hint of pepper, but both times the power and the length stood out. A profound VP. Two very close scores so go with what you prefer. 98 – 99.

  • 99p

Aromas of blueberries, blackberries and dried flowers plus hints of slate follow through to a full body, very fine tannins and a driven and linear finish. Orange peel and dried fruit. Sleek and racy. Ready to try in 2024.

  • 96p

The 2016 Dow’s Vintage Port is based around the Vinha dos Ecos vineyard behind Bomfim, populated predominantly by mature Touriga Franca vines that were cropped at just 0.68kg per vine. It has a quite astonishing bouquet with layer upon layer of intense black cherry and cassis fruit, touches of clove, leather and a hint of over-ripe Satsuma. This is a mercurial bouquet that keeps changing in the glass, revealing smoky/burning ember scents with time. The palate is quite magnificent – perfectly balanced with a killer thread of acidity slicing through such pure intense black fruit that there is no heaviness at all. There is a sense of thrust on the finish as it fans out with almost careless abandon, a Vintage Port so self-assured that you can only sit back in amazement. Simply one of the best Dow’s ever made.

  • 98p

Opaque. Rich, fruity, dense, blackberries, spices, intense and layered nose. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, dark berries, juicy, structured, spices, layered, long. 96

  • 96p
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Information

Origin

Vila Nova de Gaia, Douro
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