Dow's 1896 Vintage Port
Posted: Wed May 11, 2011 9:59 am
I was intrigued to read Roy’s tasting note on the Dow’s 1896. This wine has a particular relevance to my family as my great-grandparents Andrew and Beatrice Symington sent a case of this exact same Port to their son, my grandfather Maurice, who was serving with the British Army in France in 1916 during the First World War. Maurice had been born in Oporto in 1895, so he celebrated his 21st birthday in the trenches with this great Port. We have his letters that he wrote to his parents in Oporto throughout his time in the war in France and he makes particular reference to the Dow 1896 (the wine then being only 20 years old), saying that his Colonel had commented ‘those young officers do themselves very well’.
There is an additional point of historic interest in that Sir Winston Churchill, who had been forced to resign from the British Government in 1915 after the Dardanelles disaster, enjoyed drinking Port with Maurice Symington. They shared a mess dug-out for a while in 1916. Unlike most politicians, who return home to write their memoirs after such a political setback, Churchill, typically, insisted on joining the fight in France. He was posted to command the 6th battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers which was part of the Scottish Division, in which my grandfather was serving as a young 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Horse Artillery. Years later, in the mid 1920’s, my grandfather was over in London to visit wine merchants to sell his latest Port, and as he was walking down the Cromwell Road near Harrods, he bumped into Sir Winston Churchill on the pavement, Churchill took one look at Maurice and raised his famous walking stick and said ‘Port!’.
We have just 3 bottles left of the Dow’s 1896 Vintage Port here in our cellars. I have tasted it on three occasions in my life and would agree with you that it is one of the greatest Ports ever made. I trust that you will understand this wine’s particular importance to my family and I think that Maurice Symington would have been pleased with Roy's 100 points.
There is an additional point of historic interest in that Sir Winston Churchill, who had been forced to resign from the British Government in 1915 after the Dardanelles disaster, enjoyed drinking Port with Maurice Symington. They shared a mess dug-out for a while in 1916. Unlike most politicians, who return home to write their memoirs after such a political setback, Churchill, typically, insisted on joining the fight in France. He was posted to command the 6th battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers which was part of the Scottish Division, in which my grandfather was serving as a young 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Horse Artillery. Years later, in the mid 1920’s, my grandfather was over in London to visit wine merchants to sell his latest Port, and as he was walking down the Cromwell Road near Harrods, he bumped into Sir Winston Churchill on the pavement, Churchill took one look at Maurice and raised his famous walking stick and said ‘Port!’.
We have just 3 bottles left of the Dow’s 1896 Vintage Port here in our cellars. I have tasted it on three occasions in my life and would agree with you that it is one of the greatest Ports ever made. I trust that you will understand this wine’s particular importance to my family and I think that Maurice Symington would have been pleased with Roy's 100 points.
