2011 Dow's Vintage Port

[Grant H]

Decanted 6 hours.

Deep Purple, basically black in the glass. It had a very full, sweet nose with little bite. Reminded me of strawberry fig jam, a little earthy. Up front in the mouth, it was initially immensely sweet, lots of sweet berries and a jammy richness. A nice burst of tannin tempers some of the sweetness, but it didn't seem to lessen the flavour. It really lasted a long time in the mouth.

After the first two glasses, I enjoyed my last one with a Cuban cigar. The jam taste came back in waves against the tobacco, and the sweetness was intense.

I am still a newbie to port, but this was some delicious juice!

[Roy Hersh]

Grant,

Thanks for going out on a limb and "taking one for the team" by trying the 2011 Dow at this stage. I know you are not used to giving your impressions as tasting notes, so I want to tell you that you relayed this one beautifully. Hopefully you will keep up the practice and you will just keep seeing your own ability to describe what you sense in the wine, steadily improve. It is a ton of fun to document these early impressions and then look back years later.

[David Spriggs]

Love this wine. One of the best Dow's ever!