1963 Dow’s Vintage Port

[Bill Spohn]

1963 Dow’s Port (magnum) – I’d had this in the cellar for 10 or 12 years, trying to figure out just when you could open a magnum of Port, when it came to me that not only did the birthday boy love vintage Port, but so did many of the rest of them. This vintage was, according to Broadbent, the last at Dow where they pressed the grapes by foot in traditional lagars. I had it opened about 3 hours before drinking.

The nose was beautiful, with a floral (roses?) element and spice as well as alcohol (some thought it on the hot side but I didn’t) and the wine was much darker than single bottle 1963s I’ve had recently, with a rim that was more clear than browning. On palate, sweet but not too sweet, nor too hot, and the hint of fig although this wasn’t a stewy fig, and dried cherries as well. Good concentration, the wine in excellent shape and a long, long tasty finish.

It was predicted that there would be a bunch of this left over after that long wine filled lunch. In the end, the bottle was dry and went home with me. It is the old style squat magnum – maybe I’ll stick a light bulb in it and have a Porto lamp!

[Bill Spohn]

Here's the lunch line up we had. Anyone know if and when the squat traditional Port magnum gave way to the normal magnum? It is actually 1800 cc.