Dow's Vintage Port(2000)

Tasting Notes
It had been some years since we had seen
such tremendously concentrated and
robust wines suited to long term ageing
made at Bomfim and Quinta da Senhora
da Ribeira. Deep purple colour, so dark
it’s almost blue/black. This is a wine of
great vigour with excellent fruit aromas of
plums and cassis. In the mouth, typically
Dow flavours of liquorice and spices, as
well as great depth and structure. It
presents amazing ripe fruit flavours giving
it marvellous complexity, finishing with
firm bold tannin and read more...a typical peppery
dryness. A wine guaranteed to last and
develop to maximum potential.
The Viticultural Year
Records exist at Bomfim, unique in the
Douro, dating back to the Vintage of 1891.
In the 25 Vintage Ports ‘Declared’ by
Dow’s in the 20th Century, it is remarkable
how often rainfall at the end of August or
early September played a key role. After
the long dry summer, the vines are in need
of 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
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 rather
difficult way; wet and damp weather in
April and May had a detrimental effect on
the flowering. 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 very small but
excellent crop. This is exactly what
happened.

Wine Specifications
Alcohol: 20% vol (20ºC)
Total acidity: 4.68 g/l tartaric acid
Baumé: 3.4    (hide)