Dow’s Vintage Port 2000
WHY WE LOVE IT
- Vintage Port is only made in the most exceptional years and comprise less than two percent of all Ports produced.
- Dow’s was one of the first houses to invest in premium vineyards in the Douro, acquiring them in 1890 and 1896 respectively.
- A wine guaranteed to last and develop to maximum potential.
Varietal Composition: 30% Touriga Francesa, 10% Tinta Barroca, 60% Vinha Velha (old vines)
Elaboration: After the long dry summer, the vines need water. Rainfall, even if only a little, allows the grapes to swell, the skins to soften and the sugar readings to rise. In 2000 it rained at Bomfim on the 22nd and 24th August and again on the 11th of September. This was ideal and had a major impact on the quality of the wines made at this harvest. The year had started in a difficult way; wet and damp weather in April and May had a detrimental impact. The ‘fruit set’ was poor and yields were dramatically reduced as a result. However, the weather in June and July was good and maturity progressed well. With the pre-harvest rain, there was every prospect of a small but excellent crop. This is exactly what happened.
Tasting Notes: Deep purple color, so dark it is almost blue/black. This is a wine of great vigor with excellent fruit aromas, predominantly of plums and cassis. In the mouth, typical Dow flavors of liquorice and spices, as well as great depth and structure. It presents amazing ripe fruit flavors giving it marvelous complexity, finishing with firm bold tannins and a typical peppery dryness.
PRESS
99 James Suckling | 95 Wine Enthusiast | 94 Wine Advocate | 93 Wine Spectator
PRODUCER BACKGROUND
Founded in 1798 by Portuguese merchant, Bruno da Silva, Dow’s has lengthy history of offering some of the finest Ports. The Dow’s brand name was established when another partner, James Dow, joined the company. In 1912, Andrew Symington, a Scot who had been working in the industry for 25 years, became a partner in Dow’s. Today, the company is 100% owned and managed by the fourth generation of the Symington family, who are today the largest landowners in Portugal’s Douro Valley with over 4,000 acres. For over two centuries the name of DOW has been associated with the finest Port from the vineyards of the Upper Douro Valley. Throughout the 20th Century and into the 21st, the Symington family has built on the legacy of the preceding Silva and Dow families. Generations of Symington winemakers have worked at the Dow’s vineyards: Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira, creating from them Dow’s superbly concentrated wines that are intense and tannic when young, maturing towards a superlative racy elegance with age and scented with violet and mint aromas. Dow’s attractive and distinctive drier finish is the recognizable hallmark of the wines from this great Port house.