Port?

Sorry to be a dissenter, but I found the 1985 Dow's to be the most uninspired of all the 1985 vintage Ports I've tried. The 85 Fonseca and Grahams were so good 5 years ago, that I bought some 85 Dows on my last trip to Porto. As previously mentioned, it's quite cheap-even more so at the Porto Duty-Free- and I was looking forward to a great drink on my recent birthday. I was quite disappointed, and believe that it is underpriced for a good reason. The more recent Taylors LBV (1999) and Smith Woodhouse LBV (1994) are both richer and more full-bodied than the 85 Dow's; at a fraction of the price.

You might want to keep an eye out for the 1987 Fonseca Guimarens. Many think that 1987 should have been declared, and to my taste the 87s have been superior to several of the vintage 1985 offerings.

YMMV

"Commander Bob" wrote in news:%9Svf.60285$OU5.50964@clgrps13:

Hi,

I think you got an off bottle of 1985 Dow's. Probably very slightly cork tainted made it dull and uninspiring. What I tasted was an extraordinary wine, and it compared favourable to Warre's and Graham's from the same year and provenance (the Symington cellars).

About the underpricing, I think it relates to the fact that the Port market is very well developed in the U.K. where most of the links provided by winesearcher come from if you do a free search. 1855.com has the same Port at 89,90 euros FWIW. Vintage Port seldomly sells in Spain and it is a specialized item and, therefore, sold at special prices (expensive).

Best,

Santiago