Portugal
2015 Croft - Porto Quinta da Roeda Vintage Port
This starts with a generous feel, offering blueberry and plum reduction notes, but zips up nicely through the back end, picking up graphite and açai berry accents for added range and cut. Shows an alluring mint echo. Best from 2028 through 2040.
2017 Croft - Porto Vintage Port
A beauty in the making, with waves of dark currant preserves, warmed fig and steeped blackberry fruit, all infused with chai spice, tobacco, singed alder and espresso cream accents. Very grippy on the finish, but this is long and smoldering too. Best from...
2017 Croft - Porto Quinta da Roeda Serikos
Intense, featuring a rather dark persona, with baker's chocolate, Turkish coffee and steeped black currant notes taking the lead, backed by bitter plum and fig reduction flavors. A long tarry streak and a singed juniper accent show on the finish, ending w...
2016 Croft - Porto Vintage Port
The balance is just more appealing. It shows beautifully with a couple of days of air. As with all Ports of any quality, this could use some time. This is gripping, but it won't sear your mouth with tannins. You are going to have to cellar it awhile to al...
2016 Dow's - Vintage Port
This is a very elegant Dow's, but there is certainly both power and concentration lurking underneath. Adding fine fruit, it is expressive and sophisticated, a very refined offering that seems not quite as burly as in some years. It is still exceptionally ...
2017 Dow's - Vintage Port
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 abou...
