Collector’s Corner:

Dow
 

Vintage Port remains one of the best deals in the world of classical fine wine—top flight, epic bottlings from historic producers with long track records at prices that seem unfathomable given their pedigree.  These are wines that compete with Grand Cru Burgundy and First Growth Bordeaux at prices that are fractions of their peers. 

In Stock Now from Dow

“The freshness coming through in these wines being a defining feature of this vintage.'” –Mark Squires, Wine Advocate
Dow’s Vintage Port, Portugal 2016 750ML ($119.95) $99 special, 22 bottles in stock now
Wine Spectator 98 points “This packs a lot of fun, with a wallop of blackberry, fig, boysenberry and açai berry compote flavors working together, laced with a mouthwatering licorice snap note and driven by a fresh, well-detailed finish. A roasted apple wood accent is integrated as well, lending textural contrast through the vivacious finish. Best from 2030 through 2055.”
Wine Enthusiast 97 points “Very floral, intense and ripe, this is a wine that is based around big black fruits as well as fine acidity. It is obviously destined for long aging with its powerful dry tannins and perfumed acidity. Drink this wine from 2028.”
James Suckling 96 points “Aromas of blueberries, blackberries and dried flowers plus hints of slate follow through to a full body, very fine tannins and a driven and linear finish. Orange peel and dried fruit. Sleek and racy. Ready to try in 2024.”

Dow’s Vintage Port, Portugal 2017 750ML ($119.95) $99 special, 10 bottles in stock now
Dow’s Vintage Port, Portugal 2017 375ML ($69.95) $59 special, 24 half-bottles in stock now
Dow’s Vintage Port, Portugal 2017 1.5L ($249.95) $219 special, 3 magnums in stock now
Neal Martin-Vinous 98 points “The 2017 Dow’s Vintage Port showed a slight reduction and required more time to really open in the glass. Typical of Dow’s it has a more backward and introspective bouquet compared to its peers, scents of blackberry, clove, wild mint, cassis and vanilla, gradually gaining more intensity with aeration. The palate is simply glorious. It is built around a compelling tannic frame that seems finer than any Dow’s I have encountered apart from the ethereal 2011. There is so much energy coiled up in this Port, a sense of symmetry that is enthralling and yet you just know that it needs to be cellared for 15-20 years for it to reveal its full potential. For serious Port-lovers. One of the vintages most cerebral offerings. Total production is 5,250 cases.”
James Suckling 98 points “Pure grape aromas that remind me of fermenting must but then goes to stems and dried flowers. Full-bodied, medium sweet with fine-grained tannins that coat your palate. Powerful and muscular yet remains agile and beautiful. Grows on your palate. Wonderful ripe fruit in the middle palate. Try after 2030.”
Decanter 97 points “Based on fruit from the predominantly south-facing Quinta do Bomfim in the Cima Corgo and Quinta Senhora da Ribeira in the Douro Superior, with Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca making up 80% of the blend. This is opaque and closed in but powerfully ripe with underlying pure berry fruit. It’s seemingly quite introverted compared to some of its peers at this stage, but it’s still full, rich and opulent on the palate. It also shows the latent power of the vintage, made as it is in a slightly drier style (3.4 Baumé), with lovely minty fruit and full, ripe sinewy tannins all the way through the finish. Long and lithe, and very fine.”
Wine Spectator 96 points “A dense, thickly textured version, dripping with warm salted licorice, tar and açaí paste notes, while plum and blueberry pâte de fruit, chai spice and chocolate elements fill in behind. Lots of brambly grip flows underneath. Shows a very sappy feel on the finish. Best from 2035 through 2055.”
Wine & Spirits 95 points “This wine seems more accessible than young Dow vintages of the past, perfumed with purple-fruit freshness that’s completely integrated into the wine’s dark tannins. The structural power of those tannins grows more apparent as you spend time with the wine. Though they seem articulate, spicy and grand from the start, they continue to give fruit flavor after the bottle has been open for three days. The details range from cinnamon bark to mincemeat, plum skins and minerals, all of it surrounding the healthy purple-red fruit at the center of this wine. A beautiful and satistfying vintage from Dow, this will develop for decades.”
Mark Squires-Wine Advocate 94-96 points “Opening with dramatic color, this adds violets on the nose. It retains elegance while seeming subtly concentrated rather than jammy. Then, it finishes with pop and controlled power. For those who remember the powerhouse Dows in the past, that’s not quite this for the most part. It is an accessible and elegant Dow, relatively speaking. Charles Symington said that the higher proportion of Touriga Franca compared to some years contributed to that. That said, this still has the structure to age and develop. It seems wonderfully fresh and lifted all the while, but it’s neither rich, nor intense nor austere. This is a Dow that still needs some time to become more expressive and complex, though. There were 5,250 cases produced. The 2017 Vintage Port, bottled in May for release in the third quarter of 2019, is mostly a 42/38 blend of Touriga Nacional and Touriga Franca with old vines and miscellaneous others (including about 8% Alicante Bouschet) for the rest. It was bottled about a month before this tasting after 18 months in seasoned vats, but the just-bottled sample was not actually used for fear it might be in shock. This, accordingly, was actually a pre-bottling sample. It comes in with 106 grams of residual sugar.”
Jancis Robinson 18/20 points “Black core with purple rim. Very different from the Stone Terraces just tasted, sweet and somehow more lifted as if more volatile. Hedgerow fruits on the nose, floral too, and again that real sweetness of fruit on the palate. Intense, firmly built but very generous in its sweet fruit character even if not analytically sweeter. Fine-grained but still grainy tannins with some hints of dried fruits on the finish. When I tasted this a second time on a different occasion, it seemed much fresher and more vibrant so I increased my score and lengthened the drinking window.”

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Single Vineyard Talenti Brunello

Arriving ETA October
 

“Riccardo Talenti sources fruit from five vineyards spread out between higher elevations of Sant’Angelo in Colle and lower elevations of Castelnuovo dell’Abate to create a southern yet wonderfully balanced expression of Brunello, one that is capable of pleasing a broad range of palates. What’s more, with the 2015 vintage, Talenti releases their first single-vineyard wine, the Brunello di Montalcino Piero, which emerges from a two-hectare parcel first planted by PierLuigi Talenti in the 1970s. The 2015 is one of the top wines of the vintage, and the 2016 is an excellent follow-up, once again ranking high in my tastings… The process of converting to all organic practices throughout the vineyards is the latest development here.” –Eric Guido, Vinous

Talenti Piero, Brunello di Montalcino DOCG 2016 750ML ($149.95) $119 pre-arrival special
Eric Guido-Vinous 97 points “The 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Piero is an excellent follow-up to the 2015 that wowed me earlier this year. It takes a much more refined and darkly alluring approach, as an air of crushed stone gives way to masses of blackberry and cherry, further blossoming to show notes of sage, a dusting of cedar, mocha and leather strap. There’s an exotic flair here without ever straying from Sangiovese purity. The textures are pure elegance, like silk being draped across the senses yet perfectly balanced by zesty acids and hints of sour citrus, as depths of red/black fruits give way to inner floral and earth tones. You can hardly feel its tannic heft until the finish, where structure rules, clenching the palate with youthful poise while allowing hints of balsamic spice to linger on. There is simply so much going on here and so much more to come over time.”
James Suckling 97 points “This is really beautiful with so much black-cherry and blackberry aromas, as well as walnut and cedar. Some black truffle, too. It’s full-bodied, yet ever so tight and polished with solid tannin tension and focus. Goes on and on. Structured and beautiful. Try after 2024.”
Monica Larner-Wine Advocate 95+ points “This is the second vintage of Piero, a wine that pays homage to the winery’s founder. The Talenti 2016 Brunello di Montalcino Piero shows a bigger and bolder style next to the classic 2016 Brunello; however, this wine remains graceful and lifted nonetheless. It does not make the mistake of showing too much extraction or concentration (it is aged in tonneau for two years), and its pretty personality is especially bright and chiseled in the 2016 vintage. The mouthfeel shows a little more weight (and maybe less freshness, or the impression of less freshness) compared to the classic bottling. There is a just a touch more fruit concentration and richness with the 4,000-bottle release.”