Dow’s Twenty Years Old Tawny Porto

Twenty Year Tawny Doesn’t Disappoint

I do enjoy tawny port.

In fact, every time I talk about port to someone, and they complain about having had thick, sticky, and very very cherry (or raspberry, or some other red fruit) port, paired with chocolate and how they didn’t care for it, I ask them if they’ve tried tawny port as well as ruby port.

Most haven’t.

Which is a shame, really. Tawny port’s caramel-vanilla-honey characteristics are often much closer to the decadent, ridiculously good Sauternes dessert wines of France than to the much more well-known Ruby Port wines of Portugal.

Rather than trying to pair with tiramisu or chocolate cake, the best thing I can think of to eat alongside a tawny would be crème brulée.

While I prefer Niepoort’s vintage offering to this wine, it’s still very good. The Dow’s is caramel colored in the center of the glass, to a light, almost camel hair tan at the edges.

On the nose is a wonderful wispy light aroma of caramel, a touch of vanilla, and an intriguing note of burnt confectioner’s sugar. The wine is medium-bodied, actually quite a bit lighter in the mouth than I had been expecting. The primary notes I wrote for the palate are “burnt almond cake” and “peanut.”

All in all, Dow’s 20 Year Tawny is a very interesting tawny port, that doesn’t necessarily stick to the standard tawny game plan. Like most ports, it’s not the cheapest bottle in the store, but if you’re a fan of tawnys like I am, you should definitely take a look.

Verdict: B+

Dow's Twenty Years Old Tawny Port

1991 Niepoort Colheita Porto

Vivo Portugal!

In honor of Portugal’s 7-0 drubbing of North Korea in World Cup action early this morning, I am going to share with you probably the finest port I’ve ever had.

First off, I love ports. Especially tawny ports, as I really like the common caramel–vanilla profile more than ruby port’s raspberry–chocolate profile. To each their own, of course, but my favorite ports are vintage tawnys.

This one fits that description, and it’s a fantastic little dessert wine. Like many ports, the ’91 Colheita clocks in at 20% ABV. It’s made up of more than seven grape varieties (the info sheet I have includes the words “and others“), including touriga nacional, touriga franca, tinta cão, tinta francisca, tinta amarela, vinhão, and tinta roriz (a.k.a. tempranillo).

So what to expect from this 19-year-old vintage? Awesomeness, naturally. It’s gorgeous in the glass, with the wine’s core resembling iced tea, fading to basically clear at the edges. It smells of burnt caramel and peanut brittle, sweet but with an edge that keeps the aromas much more interesting than just “sweet.”

The wine is thick and syrupy, much fuller than just “full-bodied.” It tastes of vanilla and caramel, and also of kettle corn. Yes, it’s quite sweet (this is, after all, a dessert wine) but the sweetness is metered throughout by the aforementioned edge. This wine never succumbs to the easiness of “sweet,” it keeps you always on your toes, looking for the next little element.

An incredible treat, and exactly the sort of thing one could use to celebrate, say, a 7-0 drubbing by one’s ancestral nation in the World Cup. Not a bad idea…

Verdict: A

1991 Niepoort Colheita Porto

1991 Niepoort Colheita Porto

NV Yalumba Museum Reserve 21 Years Old Antique Tawny

Like Manna From Heaven Itself

Yummy wine

I mentioned in my previous Yalumba reviews that I experienced these wines as a bit of a happenstance, as Jane Ferrari of Yalumba happened to be in town, just happened to be at my favorite wine shop while that shop just happened to be hosting another exemplary winemaker (Mike Dunn of Dunn Howell Mountain) for a tasting.

Jane had a lot of wine with her, including the aforementioned Scribbler and Signature, but apparently, that wasn’t enough. One of my fellow tasters-slash-revelers mentioned to Jane that he’d had a Yalumba dessert wine he claimed had received “something like 99 or 100 points” (the best I could find was a RP 93 for this wine, still excellent), and while she wasn’t sure about the review (I’m betting people in the business of making wine would remember a mainstream review score that high) she did know the wine he was talking about, but didn’t have any on her.

However, Prima Vini, the shop in which we all stood at that very moment, did have it for sale. (They still do.) So what did Jane do? She bought the half-bottle and shared some with each of us. A remarkable move, but after tasting the wine, I knew immediately why she’d done it.

We were now, all of us, irrevocably hooked. This shit is good.

Before I get into the tasting notes, I want to quote this wine’s varietal makeup from the Yalumba website:

Original old vine Shiraz, Grenache, Dolcetto, Mourvèdre, Muscadelle, with a small percentage of Touriga, Tinta Cao and Tinta Molle contributing complexity to the blend.

Whew! Now, on to the wine itself.

The wine is a clean tawny tan in the glass. I wouldn’t use the word “brown” to describe it. It fades from a rich almost-golden tan, to basically clear at the edges.

On the nose is one of the most enticing bouquets I’ve come across: raisins, honey, and caramel. All sweet (this is, after all, a dessert wine) but not at all sticky, or saccharine/sickly “sweet.” Rather, the nose is rich and lustrous.

Take a sip and you won’t be disappointed. The wine is very full bodied, it covers the inside of your mouth like velvet. The honey from the nose is here, but with a rustic, robust heat that reminded me of drinking mead. The wine is sweet but not overly so, hot (at a good 20% ABV) but not off-putting, with hints of candies and sugar.

In short, it’s exactly what dessert wine should be.

Verdict: A

(photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/delphaber/ / CC BY 2.0)