Dow's Colheita Port, Douro, Portugal

ABOUT THIS WINE

Colheita Ports are Tawny Ports made from the very best wines of a single harvest (Colheita means harvest in Portuguese). Although they are aged in the same way as blended tawny Ports (10, 20, 30 and over 40 years) in seasoned oak casks, they differ in that they are representative of one single year and not blended to express a consistent style with little or no variation. Legally they must be aged a minimum of seven years before being bottle and sold. However, often they can be much older. The labelling indicates the year of the harvest as well as the year of bottling. The difference between these two dates is equivalent to the number of years the wine was matured in wood before bottling. Colheita Ports are relatively rare and represent only a fraction of all port sold worldwide. The mild winter and warm Spring of 2007 gave rise to one of the most celebrated vintages ever. Produced from excellent wines from the same year, Dow’s 2007 colheita was specially selected for ageing by Charles Symington, Dow’s Master Blender.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

For over two centuries the name of DOW has been associated with the finest Port from the vineyards of the Upper Douro Valley. Throughout the 20th Century and into the 21st, the Symington family has built on the legacy of the preceding Silva and Dow families. Generations of Symington winemakers have worked at the Dow’s vineyards: Quinta do Bomfim and Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira, creating from them Dow’s superbly concentrated wines that are intense and tannic when young, maturing towards a superlative racy elegance with age and scented with violet and mint aromas. Dow’s attractive and distinctive drier finish is the recognisable hallmark of the wines from this great Port house.