For The Love Of Port

Time for another Virtual Tasting. Let's try any Dows LBV, they are usually readily available. If not available, just get any filtered LBV.

Who's in?

I'll find a Dow's and pick it up in the coming week and post my note when I do. Thanks for getting this going again!

I'm very in, we'll see what Dows LBV I can find across America, as I'm road tripping/moving next week.

Hopefully, we'll have half a dozen vintages represented between all of us and will be able to draw some loose conclusions overall.


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I happen to have a 2009 Dow's LBVP on hand, $21.99 BevMo. For some reason they want 31.99 for my favorite 2008 Fonseca LBV, yet available elsewhere for ~$20-23.

I picked up a 2008 Dow's LBV (unfiltered) at the local BevMo's for $21.

Popped and poured over a couple hours. Initially the spirit was a little out of joint and poking through too much, which integrated nicely within an hour. Light-Medium bodied LBV of plums, chocolate, and eucalyptus. The tannins are soft and only slightly noticeable, which bodes well against the fruit. The finish is rather hollow and short. This was ok, but also a disappointment as Graham's Six Grapes has a better palate and longer finish and is also available for about $5-6 cheaper, which is a decent amount in this price range.
85 Points

how long do we have to do this? i might be able to get to my Dow's 2008 by mid-month.

Usually its a month long--enough time to find out, then drink it--so lets say until March 1. Does that work?

That works for me. One of my local b&m stores carries 375s of Dow LBV. I missed a sale a few weeks back, but the regular price is pretty reasonable.

Eric Menchen wrote:That works for me. One of my local b&m stores carries 375s of Dow LBV. I missed a sale a few weeks back, but the regular price is pretty reasonable.

Really---have never seen a 375. I like having some of those on hand for when its just me. Will have to look out.

TN here for the 2009: http://www.fortheloveofport.com/ftlopfo ... 12&t=39227

Sounds like a plan. Nice to see the Virtual Tasting Room in use again. Looking forward to see what Dow's LBVs are available across the community.

Sorry, folks, I misremembered what my inventory is. I actually have two Warre's LBVs, the 2003 and the 2007, no Dows and so my bottles would be off-theme.

2009 Dows LBV. Opened one hour prior. Dark purple squid ink, magenta rim. Aromas a dusty dark berry. Moderate weight and viscosity. Lots of blackberry with hints of cassis and tar. I drank a lot of these when I first started enjoying port; Dows LBVs have a certain lush mouthfeel...these LBVs tend to be fruit bombs and this one certainly fits the profile. Dry yet sweet on the finish. A little simple yet quite enjoyable. I still have most of the bottle left--will circle back if it changes.

Update over the ensuing week: I have been enjoying this a little everyday. It never got any better that the first taste--kept that plateau for a while but is now fading and I am less enamored of it.

88 Points

Thanks, John. I can see that I'm NOT familiar with Dow LBV. The Warre's that I remember style as 'gobbish', if I may invent a term, somewhat monlilthic in dark fruit, and actually gaining consisderable complexity in some cases over up to 20 years. Somewhat like the Fonseca 1996 I enjoyed so moch in about 2004, but that was definitely Fonseca fruit, and not Dow fruit.

what think you? would it hurt for me to post a Warre's LBV here just for comparison? I'd open, I think, the 2003...

John Trombley wrote:what think you? would it hurt for me to post a Warre's LBV here just for comparison? I'd open, I think, the 2003...

Sure---if that's what you want to taste, please do.

This is a note on the 2002 Warre's Late Bottled Vintage Unfiltered, bottled 2006, marketed about 2010.

Cork-finished. Not decanted, but tasted in a Riedel Zin. $25.99; Kroger's Marketplace, Toy, OH. Fair amout of crust perceptible in this nonfiltered wine.

About 2 mm of fading on the rim; color violet, red tinges, little or no bricking. Typical Warre's monolithic plum scents, with a slight vanillin air about it. Opens to show some rose-water and powdered sugar, after a few hours adding bacon and mild charcoal smoke.

Entry noticeably energetic, with moderated sweetness--the 'dryness' typical of Warre. Tannins have softened, finish with a twist of orange bitterness; not a hint of spirit. Texture is unusually soft and caressing, but by no means is it flavorless; hitting on all the cylinders. However, as it opens, it gets more tannic, grippy, leafy, almost stemmy, which is in my experience typical of this series. Some would say that its grip has a slight, characteristic greenness which is not a fault but a part of the style. At first I thought it had peaked but it has room to grow in cellar. Drink 2020-2027, at least. Overall has the slight rusticity, dark fruit, restrained sweetness. and good grip of the Warre's house style, and this reminds me of the 1982, that really blossomed at about 25 years. If you like the style, you'll love this at maturity. 91+?/100.

At about 6 hours the fruit springs to life and becomes anything but monolithic, showing blackcurrant, thyme, perhaps blueberry in addition to the above on both nose and palate; its inherent energy comes to life; and as this happened, the inherent fluidity of the wine reappears without lessening its savory tannins. This is the time to start drinking this wine at present; leave it in the decanter for a minimum 6 hours if you're opening it now. Superb value.

The Impitoyable emphasizes the leaf, wood, and wood-smoke on the nose, especially on the second day, and the energy on the palate. Again, not a trace of spirit; completely integrated at this point.

On the second day is basically holding well. I'd guess the best performance for this right now is 6-24 hours after opening, if you don't decant.

Had a little Tuxford and Tebbetts Stilton (Murray's), so I indulged. Excellent but it fights just a little with all that fruit; not a surprise since you do better with tawny styles with this cheese, where the fruit has been integrated or removed by wood contact.

John Trombley wrote:This is a note on the 2002 Warre's Late Bottled Vintage Unfiltered, bottled 2006, marketed about 2010.

Cork-finished. $25.99; Kroger's Marketplace, Toy, OH.

About 2 mm of fading on the rim; color violet, red tinges, little or no bricking. Typical Warre's monolithic plum scents, with a slight vanillin air about it. Opens to show some rose-water and powdered sugar, after a few hours adding bacon and mild charcoal smoke.

Entry noticeably energetic, with moderated sweetness--the 'dryness' typical of Warre. Tannins have softened, finish with a twist of orange bitterness; not a hint of spirit. Texture is unusually soft and caressing, but by no means is it flavorless; hitting on all the cylinders. However, as it opens, it gets more tannic, grippy, leafy, almost stemmy, which is in my experience typical of this series. At first I thought it had peaked but it has room to grow in cellar. Drink 2020-2027, at least. Overall has the slight rusticity, dark fruit, restrained sweetness. and good grip of the Warre's house style, and this reminds me of the 1982, that really blossomed at about 25 years. If you like the style, you'll love this at maturity. 91/100.

At about 6 hours the fruit springs to life and becomes anything but monolithic, showing blackcurrant, thyme, perhaps blueberry in addition to the above on both nose and palate; its inherent energy comes to life; and as this happened, the inherent fluidity of the wine reappears without lessening its savory tannins. This is the time to start drinking this wine at present; leave it in the decanter for a minimum 6 hours if you're opening it now. Superb value.

Had a little Tuxford and Tebbetts Stilton (Murray's), so I indulged. Excellent but it fights just a little with all that fruit.

Will write again when it's opened more if there's more to say about it.

I also opened that wine over the weekend and found it excellent as well. You should definitely add your note to the tasting notes section, or perhaps a moderator can. Always good to have a well worded note added to the database.


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Bradley Bogdan wrote:You should definitely add your note to the tasting notes section, or perhaps a moderator can.

Done.

Thanks, Bradley, for the nice words. Are your impressions sharable here?

Actually, the score may be a little conservative, and I may lift it a bit when I add the second day note, at least by a plus. You don't want to over-score such a relatively humble wine, humble at least in class, although there are a few in this LBV class that show some really surprising performance, among which I rate Warre's, Fonseca, Niepoort, and latter-day Taylor in my own purview.

Moderator Glenn is invited to edit the current note since I've made significant second-day additions; may I edit it directly in the TN forum?