2007 Dow's Vintage Port

[Glenn E.]

Tasted blind at Roy's house, July 7-10, 2009.

Bottle #1: 2007 Dow's Vintage Port
Bottle #2: 2007 Vista Alegre Vintage Port
Bottle #3: 2007 Quinta do Portal Vintage Port (Cask Sample)

2007 Dow's Vintage Port

Day 1
Color: deep, clear, ruby purple. Very bright in the glass. 3/16" fade at the rim.
Nose: the nose starts out purple with some brightness to it, then turns toward black fruits. Black raspberry and blueberry are the most prominent. Alcohol is present but pretty faint. After an empty glass has dried for a bit, Roy noticed that a pronounced aroma of cinnamon apples appears.
Palate: full body, sweet (but not intensely sweet), and has good grip. Rich purple fruit compote with added blueberries. After the first sip, the grip seemed to fade but the flavors expanded to add some red raspberry. Acidity seems just average.
Finish: red fruit, very fine grained tannins, and a moderate bite at the end. Mild heat throughout.

Initial score: 88-91 points. A good, solid Port, but doesn't seem like a blockbuster.

Day 2
Color: no change
Nose: a bit of something green - possibly resin - has appeared. Alcohol is slightly stronger, blueberry is slightly fainter. Some mulberry rounds things out. The dry glass cinnamon apple is still there, which is fun.
Palate: medium full tonight, and also only medium sweet. Good heat. Rich, grapey purple fruits. Tannins and acidity both just seem to be answering "present" to the roll call - neither seems particularly strong. After several sips, some christmas spice appears in the late palate.
Finish: fruity and sweet, smooth, and some very late light grape stem. Also some very late christmas spices.

New score: 91-94 points. Overall a vast improvement over day 2, even though I tend to prefer sweeter and more full bodied Ports. The nose wasn't quite as pleasant, but the palate and finish were both very much improved over day 1. Due to the medium to light tannins and acidity, though, this might not be a long term ager.

Day 3
per tradition, I did not taste on Day 3

Day 4
Color: no change
Nose: black raspberry, some blueberry and blackberry, and some mellow (ripe) red raspberry. Faint hint of white pepper. It has a nie tang to it. The dry glass still has a nice cinnamon apple note to it, though on this night I noted it as a cinnamon green apple.
Palate: medium full body again, but significantly drier tonight. It's bordering on medium dry (call it 2.5 out of 5, where 5 is sweet). Nice warmth on the palate, with decent grip and good (finally!) acidity. The flavors have a generic red fruit tone to them with a backbone that's more purple.
Finish: sweetness and fruitiness, followed by a background bitterness that I'd call a bite if it were short. Some tannins as well.

Final comments: after a vast improvement from day 1 to day 2, this one seemed to plateau quality-wise but continue changing. I'd have thought that day 2 and day 4 were different Ports if you'd have served them to me side-by-side. During our final discussion of this bottle before we did the reveal, I told Roy I was having difficulty rating the dry-to-sweet aspect of Ports because I didn't really know what a truely dry Port was like, and he recommended that I try a 1983 Dow. How very prescient of him!

Final score: 91-94. As noted, much different in profile but not much different in quality. Still much better than day 1, though, and the longevity seems to have improved a bit.

Reveal: 2007 Dow's Vintage Port. This was a finished bottle, too, not a cask sample.