2003 Vintage Port
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Selecting port for an offering when there's been a
general declaration is something to which we look
forward at Bowes Wine. Postie comes a-knocking and
hands over a box containing half-bottle cask samples
from all the major, and a great many of the minor,
shippers and we pencil in the diary a suitable time
to give our taste buds a good workout and our teeth a
purplish-grey coating.
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 Thereafter the bottles sit
there for a couple of days, giving us the opportunity
to go back and have further adventures in port-land.
Examining how the wines react with prolonged exposure
to the elements assists greatly in the selection
process: the samples tend to open up, show more of
their salient bits and bobs…generally let it
all hang out a little more.
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This leaves one feeling that one has really got to
grips with a) the style of the vintage, b) the
performance of each shipper within the context of
that vintage and c) having to deal with sideways
looks from people in the street that suggest that
they think you've got a head full of rotten teeth, so
grey have they become.
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So how does 2003 stack up against recent vintages? In
our minds, it just offers more of everything. 1997
and 2000 could never be said to be bad vintages for
port. On the contrary, they are going to give great
pleasure (and entirely normal levels of pain behind
the eyes) in the years to come. But they weren't
vintages lacking in contention. "Styled for the US
market" some said, knowing that the revival in port
drinking was being fired by appreciation in that
market. "Napa Valley Cabernet-style port", said
others. Some said both, the really bold endeavouring
to cram both comments into the one sentence.
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 Underlying these remarks was
the suspicion that port had gone a bit soft. Maybe
the producers in the Douro had finally seen the light
and decided that selling a product unusable for the
first 20 years of its life was untenable.
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These Doubting Thomases (Thomatoes?) have been
silenced somewhat with the release of the 2003
vintage. Here we have a step back toward the
thigh-slapping, gun-toting, hair-shirt-wearing ports
of yore. At assorted other tastings where these wines
have been shown, we have heard some people rattling
out those comments I have just been mentioning i.e.
too sweet, too forward etc. They are mistaken. Yes,
there is a great deal of super-ripe fruit on offer.
But this is 2003 talking. Look beneath and there are
packs of marauding tannins roaming at will,
terrorising whole neighbourhoods. Lock up your
daughters…and then set those thumbs to
twiddle. The virtue of patience has just come back
into fashion!
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The Wines
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***We have sold out of
all wines apart from those listed below. If, however,
you are looking for a particular wine, do
contact us as we might well still be able to
source it.***
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N.B. Many of these tasting notes are in three parts.
The first impression was taken shortly after opening
the wines on 20/6/05. The second was scribbled 24 +
hours later. If there's a third, it was penned on
7/9/05 at the Tate Modern tasting of The New Douro.
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| Vintage |
Wine |
Drink dates |
Case size |
Price In Bond |
| 2003 |
Niepoort Vintage Port, Douro, Portugal
Notes: Really quite closed, although some cocoa and spice aromas emerge, along with nods towards the blackest of black fruits. Quite a dry nose at the moment. Fluid-rich and vinous. Hugely endowed, with a mass of rich tannins. Very backward. The acidity is perfectly covered. Very, very persistent and loaded with grip. Dryly spicy and super-long. This will be very impressive.
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2017-2030 |
6x75cl |
£180.00 |
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| 2003 |
Quinta do Vesuvio Vintage Port, Douro, Portugal
Notes: 1. Delicious, broad, fresh nose of plums. A little floral; warm and rich. Notes of cooked bacon. This is serious and structured. Velvet, rich tannins - some of the sexiest of '03 - coat the palate. Long and intense Vesuvio; smoky and black. Very, very long.
2. Structured, velvet texture. Composed. Unflashy, with a really, really good finish. Very intense when it ends.
3. There's a medicinal note here. Very wine-y. Supple and tobacco-scented. Very long.
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2019-2030 |
6x75cl |
£168.00 |
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Return to online list format |
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All prices in this offer are In Bond, (Octavian,
Wiltshire). The wines will be shipped in April 2006.
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