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Taylor Fladgate Single Harvest Tawny Port 1863

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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 extremely rare in the Douro. An incredible experience, and one that I felt lucky to have.

There is sumptuous and concentrated sweetness on the nose; coffee, vanilla, maple syrup, and dried tobacco leaves. In the mouth, lacquered elegance, a long toffee-hued ribbon slowly unfurling, like removing a sheet from an ancient mahogany bureau, there is dust and warm wood and leather, layered against dates, dried orange skins and burnt sugar. Spiciness and minerality emerge on the finish, filtered sunlight through ancient glass and sea salt built up by time and slow evaporation.
 Sample

Taylor Fladgate

10.0 Points

CHRISTINE HAVENS
McMinnville, OR