2016 Dow's Vintage Port

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About the Wine

Located 60 miles inland from Porto, Quinta de la Rosa is set in the heart of the Alto Douro, with steep terraced vineyards that give the impression of tumbling into the river below. The estate is situated on the southeast facing banks of the River Douro, one kilometer from Pinhão in the Cima Corgo region. Run by Sophia Bergqvist and ably assisted by her brother, Philip, Quinta de la Rosa has been in the family for over 100 years. The estate was given as a christening present for Claire Feueheerd, Sophia’s grandmother, in 1906. Though they were the first growers to produce a Single Quinta port from La Rosa's grapes, the family was known exclusively for their farming expertise—selling all their grapes to bigger bodegas like Croft and Sandeman. The family port shipping company, Feueheerd, was sold in the 1930s but La Rosa was kept and run by Sophia’s grandmother, Claire.

In 1988 Sophia and her late father, Tim Bergqvist, decided to restart the family business and launched Quinta de la Rosa, a top-quality port producer, onto the marketplace. Starting in the early 1990s, the Bergqvist family was one of the pioneers in taking table wine production in the Douro region seriously. Quinta de la Rosa’s red and white table wines have won many accolades in the press and are sold in many prestigious restaurants and wine stores around the world.

The Bergqvist family is now known as a pioneer of the Douro. As farmers first, the terroir-driven quality of Quinta de la Rosa’s red wines has been credited with helping put the region on the map for serious oenophiles. The 2002 hiring of Jorge Moreira (a mentee of Dirk Niepoort and now one of the most respected winemakers in Portugal) has only further established the estate’s reputation. Moreira’s obsessive focus on coaxing maximum minerality out of its schist soils is second only to his advocacy of old, native Portuguese varieties.

All eight of Quinta de la Rosa’s single vineyards (a total of 55 hectares) are A-graded. La Rosa is fortunate in having great diversity in its vineyards ranging from altitudes along the banks of the River Douro up to 400 meters above sea level. The older dry stone-walled vineyards are planted with mixed varieties where vines are at least 50 years old and yields as low as 10 hectoliters per hectare. The newer vineyards (‘patamares’) date from the early seventies and are block planted with the approved varieties — Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Touriga Franca, and Tinta Cão. This allows head winemaker, Jorge Moreira, and his team to annually produce the highest possible quality of 50,000 liters of port and 100,000 liters of table wine (on average) from grapes of differing physiological attributes. All Quinta de la Rosa wines and Ports are estate grown, estate produced, and estate-bottled. The Quinta de La Rosa ‘house’ style is to make well-defined, elegant wines and ports without over-extraction and without too much tannin or oak. The wines are rich and full-bodied while maintaining freshness and good acidity.

Tasting Notes: 48% Tinta Franca, 31% Touriga Nacional, 11% Sousão, 10% Mixed Native Varieties. Very Dow in its intensity, taut, and lean with the vigor of a young thoroughbred. Typical Dow’s deep, brooding aromas of black plum and Douro schist with lavender and violet notes. Profound and substantial on the palate. A beautifully toned wine of impressive structure.

Reviews

Based on Touriga Franca with Touriga Nacional and Sousão. Tight-knit, with firm, rapier-like tannins on the palate – a ramrod all the way through with the opulence and flesh of the fruit on the finish. Fine-grained with great purity and expression. Leaner and much more restrained in style than others: the drier style of Dow works really well in ripe years such as 2016 (as it did in 2011). Outstanding wine for the long term. ~98 Decanter

Aromas of blueberries, blackberries and dried flowers plus hints of slate follow through to a full body, very fine tannins and a driven and linear finish. Orange peel and dried fruit. Sleek and racy. Ready to try in 2024. ~96 James Suckling

The 2016 Vintage Port, bottled in May for release in October 2018, is mostly a 48/31 blend of Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional, with various other grapes and some very old vines for the rest. It comes in with 111 grams of residual sugar. This is a very elegant Dow's, but there is certainly both power and concentration lurking underneath. Adding fine fruit, it is expressive and sophisticated, a very refined offering that seems not quite as burly as in some years. It is still exceptionally appealing, but it was curiously understated when seen. Some bottle shock, perhaps? The fresh 2016 Vintage? This is an illustration of Charles Symington's philosophy, as relayed to me, that the "wines should be in harmony from the first day." I don't think this will be a great Dow's, but it is an enjoyable one. If it wakes up, it might be entitled to an uptick. For the moment, between the top blends in the Symington stable, I'd lean to Graham's as the best in this vintage. Both are easily outclassed by the single-plot wines. There were 5,480 cases produced. ~ 93 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

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