Winemaker Notes
"10 Years" indicates an average age – this Aged Tawny Port is a blend of older wines, which offer complexity and younger wines, which bring fresh fruit flavors and vibrancy. During their long maturing period in oak casks, Aged Tawnies undergo subtle color changes: the deep red hue which characterizes Port's youth gradually gives way to a paler reddish amber color. Dow's is known for its characteristically drier house style. This 10 Year has a full, nutty bouquet with citrus and vanilla accents on the palate and a soft lingering finish.
Serving and Pairing Suggestions
Dow's 10 Year is bottled ready to drink after an average of at least ten years of cask aging. It has a t-cap closure, which means that you don't need a corkscrew to open it and that it will stay fresh for two to four months if stored in a cool, dark place or refrigerator. Serve it in a glass with at least a six-ounce capacity so that you may appreciate the wine's aromas. Dow's 10 Year is delicious when paired with soft-ripened cheeses such as a double cream cow's milk cheese, flan or fruit tarts. In warmer months, try it chilled for a refreshing dessert in a glass.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is an interesting take on a 10-year-old tawny where it comes across more like a classic Late Bottled Vintage. Full-bodied, medium dry and tannic. Dried berries and a light caramel undertone.
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Wine Spectator
Solid, with hazelnut, fig, plum cake and dried cherry notes in lockstep from start to finish. A streak of hazelnut husk tilts to the drier side of the tawny spectrum, resulting in mouthwatering cut on the finish.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The Dow's 10-Year-Old Tawny Port is a top-performer in this category of aged tawnies. TASTING NOTES: This wine deftly combines aromas and flavors of dried raisins and wood. Enjoy its liveliness with a delicate confectioners' sugar topped apple strudel. (Tasted: April 1, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a rich, nutty wine, satisfyingly ripe, poised between sweet and dry. Its touch of spirit adds to the sweetness of the wine and balances with the acidity from wood aging. The wine is ready to drink.
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F. To learn more, see our full Port Wine Guide
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.