2018 Dow`s Quinta Senhora da Ribeira

Producer
Dow
Origin
Douro, Port/vintage port, Fortifieds PORTUGAL
Colour
red
Wine Style
sweet
Dominant Grape
Touriga Nacional blend
Closure Style
cork
Maturity
young
Bottle Size
75cl
Case Quantity
3
Alcohol
20%
Wine Score
94 points, Neal Martin, vinous.com, June 2020
17 points, Jancis Robinson, jancisrobinson.com, Jun 2020
92-94 points, Mark Squires, robertparker.com, September 2020

This product is delisted and unavailable for sale.

Media Reviews

Neal Martin

The 2018 Quinta Senhora da Ribeira represents just 8% of the Quinta`s production. It is more compact, a bit more standoffish compared to some of the other single quinta 2018s that I tasted. It gradually warms up, revealing marine notes, seaweed and oyster shells tincturing the black fruit. The palate is super-smooth on the entry with plush, saturated tannins, quite spicy and peppery with an assertive, structured finish that is quintessentially Dow`s. Superb. 410 cases produced. 94 points

Jancis Robinson

45% Touriga Franca, 40% Touriga Nacional, 15% co-fermented Sousão and Alicante Bouschet. Yields were particularly low in this south-east-facing, particularly hot estate, just 25 ha of vines, that has been owned by the Symingtons since 1890. Cask sample. Blackish purple. Very concentrated indeed and almost so much so that the perfume is swallowed up by the density. Lovely sweet start and then the characteristic dryness on the end associated with Dow for which this is a major ingredient. Notably lower acidity than the Vesúvio across the river. Muscular and very structured. Still very youthful and almost inky. A violet perfume that is apparently the signature of this quinta can certainly be discerned. Great balance so that you could almost imagine drinking this quite soon with food. 17 points

Mark Squires

The 2018 Quinta de Senhora da Ribeira, the Douro Superior quinta, is a blend of 45% Touriga Franca, 40% Touriga Nacional and the rest Alicante Bouschet and Sousão combined. It comes in with 106 grams per liter of residual sugar. Of the Symington group this issue, nothing is more intensely flavorful as this. It is certainly a step up on its Bomfim sibling this issue in concentration. Some in this set of Symington releases are equally perfumed. Some might be equally or more powerful. Nothing is more expressive except the Vesúvio, which is a bit of an outlier in this group. With violets up front and plums on the finish, it is delicious and sexy, until the h ammer falls. There is plenty of power too. The next day, it shuts down. A few days later, it was drinking fairly well. This is one of the two Ports being released now, en primeur, by the Symingtons (the other being the Vesúvio). The question here will be when this comes into better balance. I`d sock it away until nearly the end of this decade, but it might be approachable sooner. There were 510 cases produced, a bit more than Bomfim, but still pretty small. 92-94 points

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