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1985 Dow's vintage port

Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 4:01 am
by Rune EG
Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim visitor center.

Bottle was open when served to us. Not known whether any decanting.
Dark red colour on the way to be more brown. Powerful, exciting aroma of berries and various interesting elements including tobacco.
Medium to full body. At start the taste is both powerful and round with touch of prunes, but shortly afterwards the fruit and sweetness disappeared, unpleasant minerals appeared, somewhat dry towards the end (bitterness). I have seen varying reports on this vintage and there seems to be a lot of bottle variations. Have one bottle left in the cellar and will drink it soon. 87 pts.

Please note: This is a corrected version, as a mistake was made in the original tasting note.

Re: 1985 Dow's vintage port

Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 8:39 am
by Moses Botbol
Yikes, doesn't sound like a good review on a generally well heralded vintage! Another Dow with bottle variation?

Re: 1985 Dow's vintage port

Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 9:31 am
by Bradley Bogdan
What brought you down on this wine, score wise, Rune? Lack of complexity on the palate? Otherwise, your description sounds pretty appealing.


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Re: 1985 Dow's vintage port

Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 12:42 pm
by Thomas V
I had a glass or two in March and that was showing really well. Was at a tasting at the Danish importer and I think I scored it a 92.

Shame you had a bad glass/bottle.

Re: 1985 Dow's vintage port

Posted: Thu May 19, 2016 1:28 pm
by Glenn E.
Bradley Bogdan wrote:What brought you down on this wine, score wise, Rune? Lack of complexity on the palate? Otherwise, your description sounds pretty appealing.
Past experience (from the 2010 Harvest Tour) tells me that Rune's scores are usually about 4 points lower than mine. That would put me at 91 for this bottle, which doesn't seem abnormal to me for a D85. I guess 92 might be "more normal" for me, but 1 point seems like it's well within the range of normal bottle variation.

Re: 1985 Dow's vintage port

Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 12:28 am
by Rune EG
I fully understand that the words in my tasting note is not reflecting the score. After having looked into my written TN from the tasting at Bomfim I realize that I unfortunately have made a mistake by letting out an important sentence.

Below you will find the correct tasting note with the “lost” sentence written with capital letters

quote
Dow’s Quinta do Bomfim visitor center.
Bottle was open when served to us. Not known whether any decanting.
Dark red colour on the way to be more brown. Powerful, exciting aroma of berries and various interesting elements including tobacco.
Medium to full body. At start the taste is both powerful and round with touch of prunes, BUT SHORTLY AFTERWARDS THE FRUIT AND SWEETNESS DISAPPEARED, UNPLEASANT MINERALS APPEARED, somewhat dry towards the end (bitterness). I have seen varying reports on this vintage and there seems to be a lot of bottle variations. Have one bottle left in the cellar and will drink it soon. 87 pts.
unquote

I am sorry about this mistake and the confusion it may have caused.
Thanks for informing me Bradley!
My formal tasting note in the FTLOP tasting note base will be adjusted accordingly.