Dense and chewy but so much sweet black cherry fruit. This is drinking very well already, but no doubt it will be better in a decade or two. Improves after a long decant and also overnight.
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Visit to Taylor’s (Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal): Young, raw, alcoholic nose. Very elegant and less sweet than the 2003 with more red fruit. More supple at this point, but more spirity as well with a shorter finish. Very good potential in 10+ years.
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This Port has definitely matured - in the very best sense. It was a beauty on the nose, on the palate and had a long, lovely finish. It had that wonderful hint of sweetness that was in perfect balance with the richness of this Port. It tied a wonderful 2007 Spottswoode for WOTN.
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This is an lovely Port that is drinking well in its very youthful stage. The only issue with this bottle (375ml) was the huge amount of sediment that it had. The next bottle will be decanted through an unbleached coffee filter.
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From a 375 - truly remarkable wine. This was a bit disjointed on day 1 (brandy not fully integrated), but after a night on the counter with the cork out (not decanted, but in bottle), this sang on day 2. Tannins at this point are very fine and not unpleasant or overpowering. The finish is just endless and delicious. This should be remarkable in another 5-10 years and it should last for a very very long time after that.
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Not a formal note due to circumstances. Tasted at Taylor’s in Lisbon over about 15 minutes. All pours (1985, 1994, 2003, 2007, 2009) from Coravin stored bottles without knowing since when they’ve been open. As mentioned on occasion, my success with Coravin has been spotty. All tasted without anything to rinse palate (bread, water or otherwise). So these tasting notes may be way off from a properly decanted wine that has had the right amount of air.
Black with a touch of ruby reflections with purple hints. “Oh my!” nose of dark fruit and violets. On the palate, fresh dark fruit medley with violets and drying chocolate tannin on the final. Back to it; very fresh and currently open at this point if you like young vintages. What it doesn’t have in complexity compared to the 2003 and 1994, it replaces with dark fruit medley/violet/chocolate exuberance. Undoubtedly has upward potential, but enjoyable today. 93 or so.
If I had to rank the 5 vintages in this tasting, by personal preference, not necessarily intrinsic qualities, it would look like this:
2003=2009>1994>2007>1985
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I'm pretty inexperienced with port, but this was certainly superb. Smooth and rich, loads of blueberry and chocolate, excellent integration of oak and alcohol. Immense depth of flavour, balance and length. Very delicious indeed. I just never really get blown away by port, and struggle to really see the value in these expensive vintage ports. Perhaps I just never tried one at its peak (this is definitely too young).
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First half bottle from a mixed Fonseca and Taylor’s 6 pack from the Wine Society. Pure cassis nose, tar, violets. Dense and unctuous on the palate, essence of Fisherman’s Friend. The best young port I’ve had which is lovely to drink now and no doubt over the next several decades. Seems to me to pip the Fonseca but will be interesting to chart progress.
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A very nice port (375ml) that we enjoyed after dinner with chocolate cheese cake It was not bad but it was not as good as the previous bottle. It is very early in its evolution, and, perhaps it is going through a change or even shutting down. That said, everything is still present, and it should be stunning in the years to come - something I am looking forward to.
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I do not recall a vintage Port that features blue berries, notably boysenberry and blueberry, along with purple berries, especially Marionberry, at similar levels. It handles something like the finest quality blue and purple berry liqueurs made on earth...but better...much better.
Superb ripeness and impeccable balance of fruit, oak, and unobtrusive alcohol. The complex layers of fruit, dark chocolate ganache, earth, and mineral substance also stand out. On the palate, right at the point where one might expect the wine to reach its peak substance, it doubles down, revealing several additional, need I add stunningly flavorful layers! As such, quite the mind-bender! How does such a ripe Port hold its alcohol in check!? Who knows!?
Overall, the wine imparted the impression of a shimmering-purple-satin-clad classy lady...who has mastered boudoir voodoo (for lack of a better expression)...and is proud of it.
It seemed this bottle could have gone another two decades before beginning to tire. No reason not to experience this ridiculously approachable offering now, after giving it a chance to breathe.
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Wow! This was a stunning port, even at this early stage in its life. This was in 375ml so we PNP. As it took on air, it got better and better. As it was the end of the evening, there are no formal notes - just a very pleasant remembrance of a rich, balanced, beautiful port.
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Absolutely lovely. This is great stuff. Not very different from my previous note. Very closed, but still enjoyable on day one, after a double decant. It really started to shine on day 3. I left it in the bottle with a normal cork (i.e. not a vacuum cork). The tannins really toned down. TN is on day 3. Even though this is 10 years old, it is still opaque, only ever so slightly displaying a dark red rim on the edge, the rest is purple. The nose gives a whiff of violets, deep sweet red fruit and some wood. On the palate still tight, but displaying a lot of beauty. Again red fruit and not overly sweet. Usually in VPs, the alcohol can be quite over powering, especially when young. Here, that isn’t the case. Also medicinal notes (typical in a young VP), plenty of sweet plums and some earthy flavours too. I enjoyed a 2003 at 8 years old and I remember the tightness and the nose of pencil shavings. Much more closed. The 2009 is much more enjoyable at young age, but I think they both have excellent ageing potential.
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Excellent vintage port. One of my first “young” vintage ports. Very tasty with very strong Stilton and equally lovely with dark chocolate (80%). We have this a few hours in the decanter and then back in the bottle. Drank over 3 days. I have 11 left and might pop another one with Christmas.
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Tasting at Taylor-Fladgate (Taylor-Fladgate, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal): An outstanding young port. It was a bit tight on the day, but the quality really shone through. The nose, for example, was very attractive, but a little reserved, with quietly alluring notes of wood and violets, fresh scents of sweet black currants and wild berries, a touch of violets at the sides. It was really elegant on the palate, with a beautiful balance and a transparency that really surprised me in such a young port, with round, glowing flavours of dried muscat grapes, prunes and black cherries fanning out into a burst of warm wood spice at the finish. Gentle insistent there, with a superb length. This was very finely built indeed - with silky tannins and beautifully fresh acidity making it seem almost effortless. A wine that was at once gentle and strong, with a wonderfully elegant feel to go along with a beating heart of quiet intensity. Surprisingly easy to drink at such a young age, but there is still a ton of material tightly wound-up in its core. I can see it unfolding absolutely beautifully through the decades. Bravo. 94+
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Deep dark fruit of blackberries, black currant/cassis and black cherries, also notes of tobacco, cedar wood, some graphite, also some violets and licorice. Full-bodied and dense, with medium acidity and still medium-high tannin. Long and complex finish. This is still young but showing so much promise and is super accessible for young Vintage Port... lovely.
Nose is deep currant, herbs, blackberry, alcohol fume... Tongue sweet blackberry pie, chocolate covered cherry, chocolate tannin finish that lasts and lasts... Boy is this delicious.....dessert in a glass...
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Opaque. Inebriating, complex nose. Full body, very dense flavor, silky, very hot mouthfeel, average length. Flavor not as complex as I expected, olives, plums.
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Mort du Canard (Dave's place, Banksia): from half bottle. Exceedingly spicy and alcoholic with black plums, vanilla, cream, walnuts, sweet spice quite perfumed as well. On the palate it's juicy and spicy with plummy fruit backed by herbaceous notes. Tannins are bold and grippy A bit vinfanticide for me.
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From small bottle. Consumed over more than two weeks (stored vacuumed in fridge). Last glas was still outstanding fresh and in perfect shape. I was very surprised since you everywhere read that an open port should be consumed rather quickly. This has a very bright future ahead with a very long life.
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Opened, Decanted, shared, sipped, tried to wait but it was so grippingly good that the group had their way with it probably before it reached its peak opening. going to have to hide the rest for the next 10 years.
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2/12/2014; Gerardi's Little Store, Dayton, OH; $33.33/750 ml; bottled 2011. Kobrand/Heidelberg. 20.5 pabv. CA 0079, LT09B; 0 84692 000630. Opened about 48 hours in advance for the Cobb Christmas Crash. Tipp Ciity. OH.
Removed from the storage unit and cork cleanly pulled with the Durand; no purple on the sides. Decanted 10 am into a glass pitcher. At 700 ml poured there are some tiny crusts, and gently transferred into a decanter with stopper.
Optical: Purple with a lightening cherry edge [about 1 mm]; darker color not quite as dense in the Pitiless (Impitoyable). Thick sheeting suggests high extract.
Violets tailing into cherry, second sniff: add cardamom and thyme (cassis). Blackcurrant, five spices, moving into both herbs and dark fruits/berries of headscratching complexity and scintillancy. Again scents of century-old baked brick minerality, as sometimes is encountered in recently torn-down fireplaces. At 2 hours, the nose has moved into pan-roasted China tea over the violet and green lime peel scents.
At first great heat, which experience tells will mellow in a day or two. Fruits are almost impossible to dissect at this stage, but on the finish there's a hint of sappy apple juice with a hint of sweetness. The typical balance of a Taylor vintage port, moving from dryness to some sweetness now. The anthocyanins and tannins are almost completely fruit-coated now; will need time to relax a bit. The heat is down a bit at 2 hours and after a bit of swirling disappears. Ripe tannis are starting to show.
At 48 hours, just before leaving for Cobb's: Lots of integration of above, with great harmony. Cherry-mint and verbena, with medium tannins starting to integrate; at this point a bit sweeter than the average young Taylor VP. but with its typical draw-you-in finish. Will be served with Stilton and Santa fruit stickers.
Probably just too much at this stage for the uneducated palate; however, after 6 days in refrigerator beginning a lovely process of integration--usual cherry, violets, and fennel; anise, sweet-rising sap, and fine-grained intaglio-like tannins, and fine dry finish. Leave it alone from now until 2024. Then until who knows when? I'll not outive these bottles.
Incidentally, took a taste of this on January 2, 2015, at 23 days: one can see that the meaty pepper and tannin skeleton of the Taylor VPs are the kettle in which these great old VPs are slowly simmered.
Opened, decanted and poured. Powerful with licorice and chocolate coating the palate. We'll balanced with medium plus acidity keeping the sweetness in check. Lovely energy. Still a baby. Continues to improved with time in glass.
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Black currant, boysenberries, black cherries and spice box on the nose. Initially, heat was a distraction but it blew off in the glass over an hour. Layers of black berry fruit, black cherries, black fig paste, and sweet dark chocolate on the palate. Incredibly long finish with fine, ripe tannins. Intense and very ripe. Really enjoyable, if given time in the glass.
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Fruit a little less exhuberant but still a remarkable wine. 1-mm edge with a sweet-sour charcutier smokiness, showing off luscious clove and cherry, inviting comments about its luscious energy. As before, probably still the best young Taylor I've yet tasted, with that scorching heat and, again, pure energy. At 30-plus hours, still holding plenty back, and how can one quibble with this ridiculous price. This is the last of the Heidelberg el-cheapo lot, any more he finds going out at a well-deserved $90 per. Thanks to Eric for inviting me on this downhill ski-ride. 98-99/100
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l from Eric Jerardi, Heidelberg Importers and Wholesalers, Cleveland, OH, 20.5 % abv.
2 mm edge, edge-dusky basically opaque prune color, with an almost grainy optical texture; very full sheeting and thick legs. Comes across very shy at first but with a little work begins to yield itself up. First notes are clearly thyme, just-ripe plum, gentle graphite, and mint, earthy baked biscotti scents. Rich bacon fat, leather, and violet scents appear over a most unusual and lovely earth-laden minerality and the scent of an old unused brick fireplace, if that makes sense. There's something about this wine that reminds me of an old wooden schoolhouse building, too. Predominance of sesquiterpenes qujite prominent.
This is one of those wines whose fruit is so intense that it coats the tannin and hides it. Very, very grapy in the best sense, and having a gentle sweet-plum note, with an impression of sea salt; a huge but highly discliplined wine. It has that cotton-candy Taylor sweetness, even though it's not very sweet, that's so reliable in most fine Taylor Vintage Ports. Most of the fruit force is borne between ripe plum and sweet plum juice. Much of the subtlety on the nose is translated into the palate impression, and its remarkable sensory integration really cries out 'very old vines'. Like to know if a Velha Vinha was made this year, truly (it was--author's note). This facet can be found in recent great Taylors (like the 2000, to pick a for instance), but it seems to have reached an apotheosis here. Let me point out that this wine shows fine storage efforts, still noticeable for ithaving da Only after quite a few swallows does the guts, energy, and punchy tannin begin to show itself, and a sweet and lovely sailing anise note sings out as a top-note.
By October 4, it's more structured and the ripe tannins are pleasantly visible. The fruit in the nose and on the palate is gently olive-like, showing a Peleponnesian Kalamata-like complex, aided and abetted by tobacco smoke, vivid stoniness, and thyme honey. It's quite a bit drier than it was last month.
This wine will undoubtedly outlive those who began their careers or saw the birth of a new baby in 2009. It is a compete Taylor and meets with a well-deserved 99 points, my highest score. I agree that it's on a different pole from the 2000, but both are very long-lived, potentially. 99/100. May be drunk very young but it's a shame not to give it another 12 years at minimum. Drink now-2020 and onward.
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Some spirit on the nose, subduing the fruits. Some slight plum peeking through. Bing cherry backed by great tannins. Medium long finish with some nice structure on the finish.
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Taylor’s Port (Stockholm): Nose with dark berries, spice, chocolate, some tar, mineral with crushed slate, flowery and aromatic with violets. Clearly sweet on the palate, alcoholic, spice, dark berries with good intensity, powerful but embedded tannins. Impressive but young, 93+ p. More spicy and with darker aromas than the 2000, and sweeter on the palate, so it shows that it comes from a hot vintage. For those who prefer to drink Ports young, I’m sure this could work well with e.g. chocolate already.
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revisiting a bottle that has been opened, not decanted, last night. Still hasn't been decanted, 20 hours later.
It has huge color saturation, dark purple to black in the middle. The nose is very intense, powerful, bursting with concentrated flavours of violets, black current, licorice, old wood, esteva, a little trace of alcool as it heats up. On the palate, this is a tamed monster. It is big, yet elegant as everyting is so well balanced starting with the concentration of fruit without overipeness, the power of the tannins perfectly coated with that mass of fruit. Still on the finish the tannins are let loose giving us so much grip in an elegant way as the grain is perfect, flavours are mostly chocolate and licorice and hints of violets. This will go very far! 19/20
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-- tasted a single pour non-blind at the tasting room --
Intense blackberry color of great depth. Awesome lifted aromatics of blackberry and cinnamon stick; moderately intense on the Nose. Full bodied. Quite sweet, but it has a healthy dose of drying tannin and embedded acidity to bring it into balance; definite orange juice note; blackberry and plum concentrate; the fruit, while concentrated, seems pure/fresh (not roasted). I think this is a really nice wine.
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nose; graphite, cassis, spices, and milk chocolate. palate; blueberries, molasses, burnt brown sugar, and black currants. medium tannins. 60 plus second finish. really amazing how Taylor Fladgate produces extraordinary port every declared vintage. they are my favorite port producer. i feel very blessed to have had as many vintages of this as i have over the years.
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nose; graphite, cassis, spices, and milk chocolate. palate; blueberries, molasses, burnt brown sugar, and black currants. medium tannins. 60 plus second finish. really amazing how Taylor Fladgate produces extraordinary port every declared vintage. they are my favorite port producer. i feel very blessed to have had as many vintages of this as i have over the years
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Dark, savory and decidedly complex with creamy, pure black fruit flavors and a super rich, ripe, low+ acid palate that is surprisingly open and well integrated at this young state.
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nose; graphite, cassis, spices, and milk chocolate. palate; blueberries, molasses, burnt brown sugar, and black currants. medium tannins. 60 plus second finish. really amazing how Taylor Fladgate produces extraordinary port every declared vintage. they are my favorite port producer. i feel very blessed to have had as many vintages of this as i have over the years
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nose; graphite, cassis, spices, and milk chocolate. palate; blueberries, molasses, burnt brown sugar, and black currants. medium tannins. 60 plus second finish. really amazing how Taylor Fladgate produces extraordinary port every declared vintage. they are my favorite port producer. i feel very blessed to have had as many vintages of this as i have over the years
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Very deep garnet. Youthful creamy dried grape aroma with a bit of licorice. Palate is very raisin like but smooth and incredibly appealing today. This is lush, deep and forward. Will gain with mid-term age, but no harm drinking in the near term for juicy, youthful port enjoyment. (92)
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Dinner with Robert Bower of Taylor Fladgate (Carlos' Restaurant, Highland Park): This disappointed, making the weakest showing of the 2009 TFP Vintage Ports. Lighter in style, showing some of the feminine elegance I find in the greatest Taylors, with some interesting floral complexity. But this isn't showing great depth and is overpowered by the spirit. Incredible length, though. I suspect a longer decant would have helped this, so no score.
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2/11/2024 - empire80 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Dense and chewy but so much sweet black cherry fruit. This is drinking very well already, but no doubt it will be better in a decade or two. Improves after a long decant and also overnight.
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5/1/2023 - drwine2001 wrote:
Visit to Taylor’s (Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal): Young, raw, alcoholic nose. Very elegant and less sweet than the 2003 with more red fruit. More supple at this point, but more spirity as well with a shorter finish. Very good potential in 10+ years.
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4/7/2023 - Labrador Likes this wine: 94 Points
This Port has definitely matured - in the very best sense.
It was a beauty on the nose, on the palate and had a long, lovely finish. It had that wonderful hint of sweetness that was in perfect balance with the richness of this Port.
It tied a wonderful 2007 Spottswoode for WOTN.
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10/16/2022 - Gruffalius Likes this wine: 94 Points
Already showing well despite its youth. Really singing on day 3. Lots of spice.
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6/3/2022 - Labrador Likes this wine: 90 Points
This is an lovely Port that is drinking well in its very youthful stage.
The only issue with this bottle (375ml) was the huge amount of sediment that it had.
The next bottle will be decanted through an unbleached coffee filter.
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5/6/2022 - trumpet60201 Likes this wine: 97 Points
From a 375 - truly remarkable wine. This was a bit disjointed on day 1 (brandy not fully integrated), but after a night on the counter with the cork out (not decanted, but in bottle), this sang on day 2. Tannins at this point are very fine and not unpleasant or overpowering. The finish is just endless and delicious. This should be remarkable in another 5-10 years and it should last for a very very long time after that.
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11/18/2021 - ChristopherB Likes this wine:
Not a formal note due to circumstances. Tasted at Taylor’s in Lisbon over about 15 minutes. All pours (1985, 1994, 2003, 2007, 2009) from Coravin stored bottles without knowing since when they’ve been open. As mentioned on occasion, my success with Coravin has been spotty. All tasted without anything to rinse palate (bread, water or otherwise). So these tasting notes may be way off from a properly decanted wine that has had the right amount of air.
Black with a touch of ruby reflections with purple hints. “Oh my!” nose of dark fruit and violets. On the palate, fresh dark fruit medley with violets and drying chocolate tannin on the final. Back to it; very fresh and currently open at this point if you like young vintages. What it doesn’t have in complexity compared to the 2003 and 1994, it replaces with dark fruit medley/violet/chocolate exuberance. Undoubtedly has upward potential, but enjoyable today. 93 or so.
If I had to rank the 5 vintages in this tasting, by personal preference, not necessarily intrinsic qualities, it would look like this:
2003=2009>1994>2007>1985
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2/3/2021 - 99tollap wrote: 93 Points
I'm pretty inexperienced with port, but this was certainly superb. Smooth and rich, loads of blueberry and chocolate, excellent integration of oak and alcohol. Immense depth of flavour, balance and length. Very delicious indeed. I just never really get blown away by port, and struggle to really see the value in these expensive vintage ports. Perhaps I just never tried one at its peak (this is definitely too young).
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12/25/2020 - Herdaro Likes this wine: 97 Points
First half bottle from a mixed Fonseca and Taylor’s 6 pack from the Wine Society. Pure cassis nose, tar, violets. Dense and unctuous on the palate, essence of Fisherman’s Friend. The best young port I’ve had which is lovely to drink now and no doubt over the next several decades. Seems to me to pip the Fonseca but will be interesting to chart progress.
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8/7/2020 - Labrador Likes this wine: 90 Points
A very nice port (375ml) that we enjoyed after dinner with chocolate cheese cake
It was not bad but it was not as good as the previous bottle. It is very early in its evolution, and, perhaps it is going through a change or even shutting down.
That said, everything is still present, and it should be stunning in the years to come - something I am looking forward to.
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5/13/2020 - Motz wrote: 97 Points
I do not recall a vintage Port that features blue berries, notably boysenberry and blueberry, along with purple berries, especially Marionberry, at similar levels. It handles something like the finest quality blue and purple berry liqueurs made on earth...but better...much better.
Superb ripeness and impeccable balance of fruit, oak, and unobtrusive alcohol. The complex layers of fruit, dark chocolate ganache, earth, and mineral substance also stand out. On the palate, right at the point where one might expect the wine to reach its peak substance, it doubles down, revealing several additional, need I add stunningly flavorful layers! As such, quite the mind-bender! How does such a ripe Port hold its alcohol in check!? Who knows!?
Overall, the wine imparted the impression of a shimmering-purple-satin-clad classy lady...who has mastered boudoir voodoo (for lack of a better expression)...and is proud of it.
It seemed this bottle could have gone another two decades before beginning to tire. No reason not to experience this ridiculously approachable offering now, after giving it a chance to breathe.
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2/28/2020 - Labrador Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wow!
This was a stunning port, even at this early stage in its life.
This was in 375ml so we PNP. As it took on air, it got better and better.
As it was the end of the evening, there are no formal notes - just a very pleasant remembrance of a rich, balanced, beautiful port.
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11/14/2019 - SLB83 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Absolutely lovely. This is great stuff. Not very different from my previous note.
Very closed, but still enjoyable on day one, after a double decant.
It really started to shine on day 3. I left it in the bottle with a normal cork (i.e. not a vacuum cork). The tannins really toned down. TN is on day 3.
Even though this is 10 years old, it is still opaque, only ever so slightly displaying a dark red rim on the edge, the rest is purple.
The nose gives a whiff of violets, deep sweet red fruit and some wood.
On the palate still tight, but displaying a lot of beauty. Again red fruit and not overly sweet. Usually in VPs, the alcohol can be quite over powering, especially when young. Here, that isn’t the case. Also medicinal notes (typical in a young VP), plenty of sweet plums and some earthy flavours too.
I enjoyed a 2003 at 8 years old and I remember the tightness and the nose of pencil shavings. Much more closed. The 2009 is much more enjoyable at young age, but I think they both have excellent ageing potential.
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9/5/2019 - SLB83 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Excellent vintage port. One of my first “young” vintage ports. Very tasty with very strong Stilton and equally lovely with dark chocolate (80%).
We have this a few hours in the decanter and then back in the bottle. Drank over 3 days.
I have 11 left and might pop another one with Christmas.
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6/1/2019 - Paul S wrote: 94 Points
Tasting at Taylor-Fladgate (Taylor-Fladgate, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal): An outstanding young port. It was a bit tight on the day, but the quality really shone through. The nose, for example, was very attractive, but a little reserved, with quietly alluring notes of wood and violets, fresh scents of sweet black currants and wild berries, a touch of violets at the sides. It was really elegant on the palate, with a beautiful balance and a transparency that really surprised me in such a young port, with round, glowing flavours of dried muscat grapes, prunes and black cherries fanning out into a burst of warm wood spice at the finish. Gentle insistent there, with a superb length. This was very finely built indeed - with silky tannins and beautifully fresh acidity making it seem almost effortless. A wine that was at once gentle and strong, with a wonderfully elegant feel to go along with a beating heart of quiet intensity. Surprisingly easy to drink at such a young age, but there is still a ton of material tightly wound-up in its core. I can see it unfolding absolutely beautifully through the decades. Bravo. 94+
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3/23/2019 - NostraBacchus Likes this wine: 96 Points
Deep dark fruit of blackberries, black currant/cassis and black cherries, also notes of tobacco, cedar wood, some graphite, also some violets and licorice. Full-bodied and dense, with medium acidity and still medium-high tannin. Long and complex finish. This is still young but showing so much promise and is super accessible for young Vintage Port... lovely.
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11/18/2018 - KJD45$ Likes this wine: 95 Points
Nose is deep currant, herbs, blackberry, alcohol fume...
Tongue sweet blackberry pie, chocolate covered cherry, chocolate tannin finish that lasts and lasts...
Boy is this delicious.....dessert in a glass...
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8/26/2018 - KJD45$ Likes this wine: 93 Points
Delicious as usual....fine example of why I enjoy port from time to time.
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8/23/2018 - Bebum Likes this wine: 97 Points
Opaque. Inebriating, complex nose. Full body, very dense flavor, silky, very hot mouthfeel, average length. Flavor not as complex as I expected, olives, plums.
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9/25/2017 - chatters wrote:
Mort du Canard (Dave's place, Banksia): from half bottle. Exceedingly spicy and alcoholic with black plums, vanilla, cream, walnuts, sweet spice quite perfumed as well. On the palate it's juicy and spicy with plummy fruit backed by herbaceous notes. Tannins are bold and grippy A bit vinfanticide for me.
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10/19/2016 - Waedi Likes this wine: 96 Points
From small bottle. Consumed over more than two weeks (stored vacuumed in fridge). Last glas was still outstanding fresh and in perfect shape. I was very surprised since you everywhere read that an open port should be consumed rather quickly. This has a very bright future ahead with a very long life.
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10/2/2016 - Vini Ciclismo Likes this wine: 96 Points
Port Tasting at the cellars while on holiday in Porto; 10/2/2016-10/3/2016 (Porto): Cellar door. Pure ripe delicious flavours. Ultra smooth, not huge structure, black berry fruits, super refined tannins, fine acidity, drinks beautifully.
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1/8/2016 - Agent67 Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened, Decanted, shared, sipped, tried to wait but it was so grippingly good that the group had their way with it probably before it reached its peak opening. going to have to hide the rest for the next 10 years.
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12/10/2014 - sweetstuff wrote: 97 Points
2/12/2014; Gerardi's Little Store, Dayton, OH; $33.33/750 ml; bottled 2011. Kobrand/Heidelberg. 20.5 pabv. CA 0079, LT09B; 0 84692 000630. Opened about 48 hours in advance for the Cobb Christmas Crash. Tipp Ciity. OH.
Removed from the storage unit and cork cleanly pulled with the Durand; no purple on the sides. Decanted 10 am into a glass pitcher. At 700 ml poured there are some tiny crusts,
and gently transferred into a decanter with stopper.
Optical: Purple with a lightening cherry edge [about 1 mm]; darker color not quite as dense in the Pitiless (Impitoyable). Thick sheeting suggests high extract.
Violets tailing into cherry, second sniff: add cardamom and thyme (cassis). Blackcurrant, five spices, moving into both herbs and dark fruits/berries of headscratching complexity and scintillancy. Again scents of century-old baked brick minerality, as sometimes is encountered in recently torn-down fireplaces. At 2 hours, the nose has moved into pan-roasted China tea over the violet and green lime peel scents.
At first great heat, which experience tells will mellow in a day or two. Fruits are almost impossible to dissect at this stage, but on the finish there's a hint of sappy apple juice with a hint of sweetness. The typical balance of a Taylor vintage port, moving from dryness to some sweetness now. The anthocyanins and tannins are almost completely fruit-coated now; will need time to relax a bit. The heat is down a bit at 2 hours and after a bit of swirling disappears. Ripe tannis are starting to show.
At 48 hours, just before leaving for Cobb's: Lots of integration of above, with great harmony. Cherry-mint and verbena, with medium tannins starting to integrate; at this point a bit sweeter than the average young Taylor VP. but with its typical draw-you-in finish. Will be served with Stilton and Santa fruit stickers.
Probably just too much at this stage for the uneducated palate; however, after 6 days in refrigerator beginning a lovely process of integration--usual cherry, violets, and fennel; anise, sweet-rising sap, and fine-grained intaglio-like tannins, and fine dry finish. Leave it alone from now until 2024. Then until who knows when? I'll not outive these bottles.
Incidentally, took a taste of this on January 2, 2015, at 23 days: one can see that the meaty pepper and tannin skeleton of the Taylor VPs are the kettle in which these great old VPs are slowly simmered.
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9/30/2014 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
At Taylor Fladgate
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4/23/2014 - Hugo and Ines Likes this wine: 95 Points
Opened, decanted and poured. Powerful with licorice and chocolate coating the palate. We'll balanced with medium plus acidity keeping the sweetness in check. Lovely energy. Still a baby. Continues to improved with time in glass.
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3/22/2014 - DarinC Likes this wine: 95 Points
Black currant, boysenberries, black cherries and spice box on the nose. Initially, heat was a distraction but it blew off in the glass over an hour. Layers of black berry fruit, black cherries, black fig paste, and sweet dark chocolate on the palate. Incredibly long finish with fine, ripe tannins. Intense and very ripe. Really enjoyable, if given time in the glass.
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10/4/2013 - sweetstuff wrote: 98 Points
Fruit a little less exhuberant but still a remarkable wine. 1-mm edge with a sweet-sour charcutier smokiness, showing off luscious clove and cherry, inviting comments about its luscious energy. As before, probably still the best young Taylor I've yet tasted, with that scorching heat and, again, pure energy. At 30-plus hours, still holding plenty back, and how can one quibble with this ridiculous price. This is the last of the Heidelberg el-cheapo lot, any more he finds going out at a well-deserved $90 per. Thanks to Eric for inviting me on this downhill ski-ride. 98-99/100
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8/6/2013 - sweetstuff wrote: 99 Points
l from Eric Jerardi, Heidelberg Importers and Wholesalers, Cleveland, OH, 20.5 % abv.
2 mm edge, edge-dusky basically opaque prune color, with an almost grainy optical texture; very full sheeting and thick legs. Comes across very shy at first but with a little work begins to yield itself up. First notes are clearly thyme, just-ripe plum, gentle graphite, and mint, earthy baked biscotti scents. Rich bacon fat, leather, and violet scents appear over a most unusual and lovely earth-laden minerality and the scent of an old unused brick fireplace, if that makes sense. There's something about this wine that reminds me of an old wooden schoolhouse building, too. Predominance of sesquiterpenes qujite prominent.
This is one of those wines whose fruit is so intense that it coats the tannin and hides it. Very, very grapy in the best sense, and having a gentle sweet-plum note, with an impression of sea salt; a huge but highly discliplined wine. It has that cotton-candy Taylor sweetness, even though it's not very sweet, that's so reliable in most fine Taylor Vintage Ports. Most of the fruit force is borne between ripe plum and sweet plum juice. Much of the subtlety on the nose is translated into the palate impression, and its remarkable sensory integration really cries out 'very old vines'. Like to know if a Velha Vinha was made this year, truly (it was--author's note). This facet can be found in recent great Taylors (like the 2000, to pick a for instance), but it seems to have reached an apotheosis here. Let me point out that this wine shows fine storage efforts, still noticeable for ithaving da Only after quite a few swallows does the guts, energy, and punchy tannin begin to show itself, and a sweet and lovely sailing anise note sings out as a top-note.
By October 4, it's more structured and the ripe tannins are pleasantly visible. The fruit in the nose and on the palate is gently olive-like, showing a Peleponnesian Kalamata-like complex, aided and abetted by tobacco smoke, vivid stoniness, and thyme honey. It's quite a bit drier than it was last month.
This wine will undoubtedly outlive those who began their careers or saw the birth of a new baby in 2009. It is a compete Taylor and meets with a well-deserved 99 points, my highest score. I agree that it's on a different pole from the 2000, but both are very long-lived, potentially. 99/100. May be drunk very young but it's a shame not to give it another 12 years at minimum. Drink now-2020 and onward.
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3/11/2013 - theportguy wrote: 93 Points
Some spirit on the nose, subduing the fruits. Some slight plum peeking through. Bing cherry backed by great tannins. Medium long finish with some nice structure on the finish.
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10/24/2012 - Vintomas wrote: 93 Points
Taylor’s Port (Stockholm): Nose with dark berries, spice, chocolate, some tar, mineral with crushed slate, flowery and aromatic with violets. Clearly sweet on the palate, alcoholic, spice, dark berries with good intensity, powerful but embedded tannins. Impressive but young, 93+ p.
More spicy and with darker aromas than the 2000, and sweeter on the palate, so it shows that it comes from a hot vintage. For those who prefer to drink Ports young, I’m sure this could work well with e.g. chocolate already.
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8/5/2012 - fblais wrote: 97 Points
revisiting a bottle that has been opened, not decanted, last night. Still hasn't been decanted, 20 hours later.
It has huge color saturation, dark purple to black in the middle. The nose is very intense, powerful, bursting with concentrated flavours of violets, black current, licorice, old wood, esteva, a little trace of alcool as it heats up. On the palate, this is a tamed monster. It is big, yet elegant as everyting is so well balanced starting with the concentration of fruit without overipeness, the power of the tannins perfectly coated with that mass of fruit. Still on the finish the tannins are let loose giving us so much grip in an elegant way as the grain is perfect, flavours are mostly chocolate and licorice and hints of violets. This will go very far! 19/20
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5/13/2012 - grafstrb wrote:
-- tasted a single pour non-blind at the tasting room --
Intense blackberry color of great depth. Awesome lifted aromatics of blackberry and cinnamon stick; moderately intense on the Nose. Full bodied. Quite sweet, but it has a healthy dose of drying tannin and embedded acidity to bring it into balance; definite orange juice note; blackberry and plum concentrate; the fruit, while concentrated, seems pure/fresh (not roasted). I think this is a really nice wine.
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5/7/2012 - botrytisvirtuoso1819 wrote: 97 Points
nose; graphite, cassis, spices, and milk chocolate.
palate; blueberries, molasses, burnt brown sugar, and black currants.
medium tannins.
60 plus second finish.
really amazing how Taylor Fladgate produces extraordinary port every declared vintage.
they are my favorite port producer.
i feel very blessed to have had as many vintages of this as i have over the years.
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3/13/2012 - botrytisvirtuoso1819 wrote: 97 Points
nose; graphite, cassis, spices, and milk chocolate.
palate; blueberries, molasses, burnt brown sugar, and black currants.
medium tannins.
60 plus second finish.
really amazing how Taylor Fladgate produces extraordinary port every declared vintage.
they are my favorite port producer.
i feel very blessed to have had as many vintages of this as i have over the years
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2/23/2012 - wino_tim wrote: 94 Points
Dark, savory and decidedly complex with creamy, pure black fruit flavors and a super rich, ripe, low+ acid palate that is surprisingly open and well integrated at this young state.
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1/23/2012 - SonomaFan wrote: 87 Points
Underwhelming. I had high expectations and they were not at all met. For the price, disappointed. Perhaps it is just not ready yet.
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1/14/2012 - botrytisvirtuoso1819 wrote: 97 Points
nose; graphite, cassis, spices, and milk chocolate.
palate; blueberries, molasses, burnt brown sugar, and black currants.
medium tannins.
60 plus second finish.
really amazing how Taylor Fladgate produces extraordinary port every declared vintage.
they are my favorite port producer.
i feel very blessed to have had as many vintages of this as i have over the years
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12/26/2011 - botrytisvirtuoso1819 wrote: 97 Points
nose; graphite, cassis, spices, and milk chocolate.
palate; blueberries, molasses, burnt brown sugar, and black currants.
medium tannins.
60 plus second finish.
really amazing how Taylor Fladgate produces extraordinary port every declared vintage.
they are my favorite port producer.
i feel very blessed to have had as many vintages of this as i have over the years
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11/14/2011 - dbkitc wrote: 92 Points
Very deep garnet. Youthful creamy dried grape aroma with a bit of licorice. Palate is very raisin like but smooth and incredibly appealing today. This is lush, deep and forward. Will gain with mid-term age, but no harm drinking in the near term for juicy, youthful port enjoyment. (92)
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10/27/2011 - petitblanc wrote:
Dinner with Robert Bower of Taylor Fladgate (Carlos' Restaurant, Highland Park): This disappointed, making the weakest showing of the 2009 TFP Vintage Ports. Lighter in style, showing some of the feminine elegance I find in the greatest Taylors, with some interesting floral complexity. But this isn't showing great depth and is overpowered by the spirit. Incredible length, though. I suspect a longer decant would have helped this, so no score.
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5/19/2011 - vespasian wrote: 94 Points
Lifted - lovely aromas here; hugely impressive palate, which is already thoroughly delicious. Huge concentration, big and powerful. 93-95
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