1997 Dow

[Andy Velebil]

Decanted 9 hours. At 23 years old the color has finally lighted a bit, but is still quite dark. Lots of black stone fruit on the nose masks its age. The palate is more on the drier side, typical for Dow's, but is offset by the youthful lush black plums, black tea leaves, menthol, a touch of youthful spirit and prominent dusty tannins. Those attributes continue into a long lingering finish. Still quite primary and, except for a slight change in color, not showing any obvious secondary characteristics at this point. I want to stress, this put on a serious amount of complexity over the 9 hours of decanting. So if you can't give it the time in decanter, I'd suggest leaving it in the cellar for at least another 7-10 years. A "Classic Declaration" vintage that doesn't get talked about much coming between 1994 and 2000, this House hit a home run.
96+ Points