1985 Dow Vintage Port

[Todd Pettinger]

Dow Vintage Port [1985]
Moses contributed this bottle from his (at the time) recently-acquired case and I was very thankful. It is right on the edge of what he considers acceptable time that a VP must mature for before he considers drinking it.

A deep, ruby red, this Port was clear and perfect to the eye. It was precisely what a great VP should look like when relatively young and I found my eye drawn to it again and again, simply for the pure beauty of the imagery.

Grapes in the nose, this was an excellent, fresh fruit bomb. Perhaps unfair to be served and compared next to the Warre '63, Taylor '66 and SW '77 that we had that night, it was the most fruity and expressive wine of the evening. The palate was explosive with vibrant grapes and a touch of maraschino cherries. The acidity was prevalent, but kept in harmonious balance with a beautiful sweetness as well. Although you hear folks talk of the Dow house style as being dry, I found that this VP was a touch dry, but not super dry like I almost found myself expecting.

It had a short finish, only 7 seconds. Moses hated to drink something he considered pretty young for a VP, but if I were able to, I would drink this VP by the case right now, while still stashing some away for long term. Sean agreed that it has tremendous potential to age nicely and will get a whole lot better. Perhaps if I can make it to Boston in another 10, 20 and 30 years from now, Moses will have some of this left and we can test this theory out.

As the night went on, I think Sean and I returned to this particular decanter more often than Moses, and I had this as my co-WOTN (T'66 was the other) and because of this fact, this little fruit-bomb earned
94/95 pts

[Roy Hersh]

Todd,

I would agree with YOU that this is a very special Vintage Port and think your assessment of 94ish points is right in the exact range of where I'd put it too. That doesn't make either one of us right though.

Thanks for taking the time to add your new set of TNs!

[Moses Botbol]

This is an excellent wine with a perfect balance and lot's of structure. I do not think it's at its full glory yet. There's plenty of other 85's that are more suitable to drink right now. The '80 Dow is more than five years ahead of the '85 Dow development. Perhaps the '85 could be one of Dow's best?

I put the case of the bottom of the pile, so give me notice before heading to Boston again!

[Moses Botbol]

Dow Vintage Port [1985]
Although you hear folks talk of the Dow house style as being dry, I found that this VP was a touch dry, but not super dry like I almost found myself expecting.

It had a short finish, only 7 seconds. Moses hated to drink something he considered pretty young for a VP, but if I were able to, I would drink this VP by the case right now, while still stashing some away for long term. Sean agreed that it has tremendous potential to age nicely and will get a whole lot better.

Actually thought this was one of the drier Dow's of recent memory. More so than the '77 for instance.

Not that '85 is "too young", just too young for this port.

[Todd Pettinger]

Thanks for taking the time to add your new set of TNs!

Took a while, but it is finally up. I only have three more that are absent from my Vancouver trip at the beginning of May, but alas I can't find the scraps of paper I used for those
This is why it is always good for me to get my TNs translated to the computer quickly... they disappear if on paper! :help: