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Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port 2011

Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port 2011

There’s poetry, pure poetry in Taylor Fladgate’s 2011 vintage port; plum, blackberry, espresso, just-baked spice cake, Madagascar Vanilla, sweet tobacco, Chinese Five Spice, and white pepper bedeck the nose. Round and supple on entry, with sumptuous plums and blackberries perched at the fore-palate and framed by cashmere-like, well-integrated tannins. Black tea, dried orange peel, and […]

Taylor’s Chip Dry White Port NV

Taylor's Chip Dry White Port NV

Tasted at Taylor’s visitor’s center in Porto, the Chip Dry White carries a bit more discernible sweetness than the other dry white Ports I’d sampled that day. It’s aged for several years in casks, giving it an oxidative style and subtle nuttiness. Fresh and crisp on the palate, and laden with citrusy, notes, lemon oil […]

Quinta do Noval Porto Colheita Tawny 2000

Quinta do Noval Porto Colheita Tawny 2000

The 2000 Quinta do Noval Porto Colheita Tawny is superb, showing warm and welcoming notes of caramel, dried fruit, honey, sultana along with a pinch of toast. The mind immediately jumps to pairings like stilton, Roquefort, or dried fruit, though, surprisingly the staff at Noval recommend trying it with fresh carrot, unpeeled. I love the […]

Quinta do Noval Quarenta Anos 40 Year Old Tawny

Quinta do Noval Quarenta Anos 40 Year Old Tawny

Sampled at Noval’s tasting room in Porto, the Noval ‘Quarenta Anos’ 40 Year Old Tawny is translucent and brickish, replete with developed notes of dates, Dalmatia fig spread, dried apples, aged leather, and warm wicker. In the mouth it’s viscous and full, more so than Noval’s Colheita, it’s the acidity that really brings this Port […]

Taylor’s Late Bottled Vintage Port 2011

Taylor's Late Bottled Vintage Port 2011

Taylor’s Late Bottled Vintage Port remains in wood for four to six years, as such, it is concentrated and intense, round and deliciously full-bodied. 2011, for me, has been one of the most exciting vintages I’ve tasted, it’s one I’m collecting and cellaring, though the ’11s are certainly enjoyably now. Taylor’s 2011 LBV is totally […]

Taylor’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port NV

Taylor's 10 Year Old Tawny Port NV

Delicate. Taylor’s 10 Year Old Tawny proved to be more reticent than other Tawny’s I’d sampled while in Porto. On the palate, it’s medium bodied and inlaid with dried fruit notes, a touch of caramel seamlessly interlaces dates, figs, and dried cherries in a silky embrace. There is, at times discernible heat, especially on the […]

Taylor Fladgate Single Harvest Tawny Port 1863

From pre-phylloxera vines, Taylor’s bought a small lot of only three barrels from the 1863 vintage that had been quietly resting in a cellar for well over a century—the producer had the foresight to reserve them when phylloxera first swept through the region. An important wine because, as Taylor’s staff pointed out, ungrafted vines are […]

Quinta do Noval White Port Extra Dry 2008

Quinta do Noval White Port Extra Dry 2008

Quinta do Noval’s Extra Dry White Port sports a tropical nose, heavy with aromas of dried pineapple, Meyer lemon and golden delicious apple that drift toward cider. On the palate, it’s very smooth, I love the acidity here, a vibrant cord piercing heavier layers. The finish is slightly savory, a dusting of dried thyme, marjoram. […]

Fonseca Bin 27 Finest Reserve NV

Fonseca Bin 27 Finest Reserve NV

The Fonseca Bin 27 Finest Reserve, was, admittedly a bit of a disappointment, owing to the fact that I cut my teeth on Fonseca’s outstanding 2011. Of course, 2011 Fonseca is now going for around $100 per bottle, a price that is increasing over time as the vintage sells out. Bin 27 is pleasant enough, […]

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR

christine@christine-havens.com