Dow's, Vintage Port, 2024
Dow's, Vintage Port, 2024
- 75cl
- 20%
- Fortified
- Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão, Tinta Barroca
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Optimal drinking window: 2036 - 2070
Est. delivery in autumn, 2026
Dow's has been declaring vintage Port since 1896, and their 2024 follows the house tradition of power wrapped in elegance. From their Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira estates high in the Douro Superior, this is a blend of the valley's greatest grape varieties, fortified at the peak of fermentation and aged in seasoned oak.
The 2024 was declared after an exceptional growing season that delivered both concentration and freshness. Right now it's a sleeping giant, all dark fruit intensity and firm tannins that need at least eight years to begin their slow dance towards maturity.
The grapes come from Dow's flagship quintas in the Douro Superior, where schist soils and extreme altitude create ideal conditions for Port production. Quinta do Bomfim sits at 400 metres above sea level, its terraced vineyards carved into precipitous slopes that face south towards the river. The schist retains heat during the day and releases it slowly at night, while the altitude preserves crucial acidity. These harsh conditions stress the vines into producing small, intensely concentrated berries perfect for fortification.
Vintage Port represents the pinnacle of Port production, declared only in exceptional years when conditions allow for wines of extraordinary quality and longevity. Unlike other Port styles, vintage Port is bottled after just two years in wood, then aged entirely in bottle where it develops its complex secondary character over decades. The strict regulations require that the wine be made entirely from grapes of a single declared vintage, with no blending across years. Only about three years per decade merit a vintage declaration from the top houses.
The 2024 Douro vintage caught everyone off guard with its sheer quality after a growing season that had producers biting their nails. Spring brought welcome rainfall after years of drought, filling the reservoirs and giving the vines a proper drink, but summer turned scorching with several brutal heat waves that had even the most experienced quintas wondering if they'd lost their fruit. What saved the day was the diurnal temperature variation – those cool nights in the schist amphitheatres allowed the grapes to retain their freshness whilst still achieving full ripeness, and many producers report some of the cleanest, healthiest fruit they've seen in years.
We're tasting wines with real backbone and precision rather than the overripe jamminess that heat can bring – the Touriga Nacional shows particular promise with its combination of power and restraint, whilst the old-vine Touriga Franca delivers some genuinely exciting aromatics. The reds have structure to burn and will reward cellaring, though the more approachable quintas are already drinking beautifully if you fancy a preview. For drinking: the lighter styles until 2030, the serious estate bottlings from 2028 onwards and likely until 2040.
What the critics say:
"The 2024 Vintage Port follows the previous declaration of 2017. It was produced with grapes from Quinta do Bomfim in the Cima Corgo and Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira in the Douro Superior. The blend is 40% Touriga Franca, 35% Touriga Nacional, 15% field blend (vinhas velhas) and 10% Alicante Bouschet. It fermented in lagar and matured in oak casks. It's linear and structured, with some graphite, lots of resinous rockrose, hints of chocolate (classic Dow's) and is slightly dry and peppery, with a textbook note of violets. Dow's are typically brooding, not up front and quite long. It has a lot of grip. It comes in at 20% alcohol, with a pH of 3.65 and 99 grams of sugar, which makes this one of their driest vintages, with Cockburn's, making it long and vinous. I think this is great wine. 66,420 bottles produced."
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