Dow’s Vintage Port 1994
After a number of exceptionally dry years, the very wet winter of 1993/4 came as a great relief and replaced valuable water reserves. March and April were beautifully warm, rapidly bringing on the development of the vines. The maturation began early and the weather for the remainder of spring and summer was ideal with the vines developing ynder perfect conditions took place with warm dry days and cool nights. Picking began at Bomfim on the 16th of September and progressed beautifully. The temperature controlled equipment was virtually not used because the fruit came into the winery at ideal temperatures.
The must of this Vintage was a great indicator of the quality, showing brilliant purple color with fresh flowery aromas. Truly a “Classic” Vintage, yielding monumental wines with fabuluos rich fruit character. One of the best of the century 20th century.
Reviews
This was my pick of the vintage when it was first declared in 1996, and nearly 30 years later I feel fully justified in recommending it once again. Retaining its deep colour, opening up to reveal ripe, exotic aromas of gum cistus, eucalypt and mint, so very expressive of the Douro. Ripe, quite powerful and still tight-knit with lovely rich, minty fruit, broad yet firm tannins rising to a fresh, gripping, opulent finish (especially for Dow in its customary drier style). Now glorious to drink – it should last a lifetime.
A blackstrap, powerful Port. Black, with intense aromas of raspberries, raisins, flowers and stems. Full-bodied and medium sweet, with a long, rich finish. Tannins pull at your palate. A wine for the future.--Dow vertical. Best after 2008. 13,000 cases made. –JS
It's a beauty, with all that Dow power and structure that I've loved over the years--even after some hours of decanting. Intensely concentrated in flavor, without being jammy, this lingers on the gripping finish after starting with a touch of mint. This is a terrific Dow's VP that is still growing and improving. It is still about its potential in some ways and it may well exceed expectations. It will certainly acquire even more complexity with more cellaring.