1983 Dow Vintage Port

[Eric Ifune]

My belated celebration of three year anniversary.
Decanted. Initially, plum center with the rim beginning to go tawny. Quite spirty but seemed to have good fruit underneath.
After 2.5 hours, much less spirty. The fruit is coming out. Still a bit tannic. Has the classic Dow signature of richness and relative dryness. Good length.
At four hours, fruit and acidity are becoming better balanced.
At five hours, putting on some weight. Seems about just right now. Still youthful. I tend to like my vintages a bit more nutty and tawny.
Best about seven hours. Has become more balanced, rounded, with good fruit. I think I'm going to hold my few remaining bottles a couple more years.

[Roy Hersh]

Eric,

If you had to apply a point score to this one (at 7 hours) where would you have wound up?

I have always been a fan of these and not because of the $19 price when I bought a case at Wide World of Wines (in MD) although they're now located in DC. I still find this mostly youthful and am looking forward to trying it again very soon.

[Eric Ifune]

I've got you beat! I paid $17.99 in Los Angeles. I like to keep the price tags on bottles. Makes me more likely to open bottles considering their original price rather than replacement prices.
Scoring? At seven hours I'd give it a 91. Maybe a couple points higher in a couple more years.

[Roy Hersh]

Agreed, it is still youthful and I've typically been at 92 points with this one. A solid Port, but I prefer the '80 and '85 bookend vintages even better, especially the latter, although the former is no slouch.

[Eric Ifune]

I love the 80, but haven't had the 85 in quite awhile. I think the 80 needs quite a bit more time; more than the 83. How does the 85 compare to the 80 or 83?

[Roy Hersh]

Imo, the 1985 is more powerful than either the 1980 or 1983. I find the 1980 youngish, but drinks so well today, due to extraordinary balance. The 1983 is a very solid VP but lacks the verve of the 1980 and profound depth and structure of the 1985. I think the 1985 will have 10-15 years more life to it than either of the others. I am typically around the 94 point range for the '85.

[Eric Ifune]

I guess I'll bury my 85's deeply then.
Thanks for the info.