1985 Dow's

[MICKSTA]

Decanted 4 hours before trying Friday night, finished on Sunday, showed best Saturday. Delicious, but somewhat restrained nose of chocolate, anise and black fruits. Huge black fruit and subtle chocolate and anise on the palate. The enormous fruit was very seamless and very well integrated with the alcohol. The tannins seemed a bit on the weak/resolved side of life, but damn if it wasn't delicious. Needs at least 5
years to gain more complexity. A-/94

I purchased the bottle last week from a store with a reasonably poor track record of proper storage, the bottle was standing up and the price tag was $34.95. My guess was that it was around a while. I say this because I found the wine very very good, despite it's questionable provenance. It outperformed the 1985 Graham's and Fonseca to me, but when I had the Fonseca it was right out of the bottle, practically, which is unfair.
PAUL