Symington Family Estates Vale Do Bomfim Reserva (Dow)

點(diǎn)擊次數(shù)：2559

The 2004 Vale do Bomfim Reserva (Dow) is such a fine deal. This is probably one of my favorite value picks in this report. This Douro red is part of the Dow family of wines in the Symington stable, since it comes from vineyards that normally supply Dow. This is a blend of Tinta Roriz (40%), Touriga Franca (40%) and Tinta Barroca for the rest. It spends some time in American oak, but only six months, and some of the barrels are second year rather than new, so the oak is not particularly intrusive. It is exuberant, fruity and flat out delicious. The texture is soft and round. The only thing wrong with it, if you could call it that, is that it is a wine likely to be on the early maturing side, and that tends to constrain my scoring. Yet it is not just a fruit bomb, and there are light tannins to provide some liveliness and verve. The wine can actually improve with another year or so in the cellar, I think. There were 5,000 cases made. Drink now-2010. Symington is, of course, one of the fabled names in the Douro, owning Warres, Dow’s, Graham’s and other famous Port houses. Their dry wines seem to be coming along fine, too, particularly their partnership with Bruno Prats of Cos d’Estournel fame (separately listed under Prats & Symington). The basic Altano wines are a super deal, and the Vale do Bomfim is one of the best buys in this report. The Symington partnership with Joao van Zeller at Quinta de Roriz (also listed separately) is very successful as well. As I look over my notes, few, if any, wineries were providing more value for the money than the Symingtons, from their own estates and their various partnerships, although they certainly have some pricey upper level bottlings as well.Importer for the Altano wines: Vineyard Brands. Importer for Vale do Bomfim: Premium Port Wines, San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 554-9920