Dow's is a family-owned Port house that has been producing traditional-style Port for more than 200 years, despite war, disease and economic turbulence.

The style, which has some similarities to a tawny, is aged in wood for a minimum of seven years before being bottled. On the palate, fresh and youthful with raspberry and cherry flavours combined with a long and intense finish.The nose is just beginning to evolve into musky, dried plum and raisin aromas with whiffs of tree bark, nutmeg, cumin and cloves. James Suckling of Wine Spectator tasted a Dow’s port over a hundred years after its bottling, an 1896, and described it as: “…an amazing ruby colour with a garnet edge, it smelled of raisins, black pepper and berries. If you need to switch up the repertoire and lighten things up a bit, while still feeling a little festive, then this might be for you. One of the great houses of Port; the name Dow has been associated with quality Port wine from the vineyards of the Upper Douro Valley for over two centuries. Also, because this one comes bottled with a cork rather than a stopper, open when you’ve got a crowd on hand to savour it with you.

Very inky in hue, this is very tight indeed, with classic Dow dryness/austerity – firm tannins and a yet to be mined concentrated seam of minerals, black currant, berry and cherry. So, if your experience with fortified wines consists of dusting off that bottle from the cupboard once a year when the festive cheese board arrives, buckle-up. The Port is blended with all the care of a premium quality Port with a fine balance and flavour, worthy of the Dow’s name. Dow’s are known for their superbly concentrated wines; intense and tannic when young, maturing to a superlative racy elegance with violet and mint aromas. Ready to drink now, Dows Christmas Port makes a splendid finish to your festive Christmas celebrations.An opaque blue/purple colour (typical of this vintage's top offerings) is followed by a strikingly provocative aromatic display (flowers, licorice, blackberries, and cassis). As it’s a white port, you’re going to find this a little more vibrant and rowdy than the longer-aged reds. Serve at room temperature on its own or with vintage mature blue cheeses such as stilton, Cashel Blue, Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Saint Augur Blue. This 2016 Vintage Port Wine from Dow's is the first wine where the mineral characters really shout to be heard.