2005 Dow's LBV Port

[John Trombley]

6/20/2012: 2005 Dow's Porto Late Bottled Vintage, 19.5 pabv/20%. $14/375 mL, The Wine Merchant, Cincinnati, OH; imported by Premium Port Wines, Inc., San Francisco, CA.

T-capped bottle over a wine with a suddenly translucent red with some purple highlights and a one-mm edge with little bricking but with stony-earthy edge, with fine harmony and precision.

Aromas redolent of powdered and spun sugars gently infused with pomegranate and cherry juice and clean anise.

High-toned sugar and fruit taste leads into a resinous, slightly woody mid-palate, and a blast of focused tannins, to which scintilla of the former fruit notes adhere; at this time the finish is quite alcoholic.

91 points.

Drink 2015 and after. A remarkably ageworthy late bottled vintage, and I'd bet on both the low cost and the pleasure yield of this item, so pick up a case if you're smart. My only gripe is the t-cork. What are Dow's thinking, to make such an ageworthy unfiltered wine, and skimp on cork?

An over-aged Stilton is a little too much for it, and vice versa.