The Fladgate Partnership Vintage Port Tasting

Vancouver Playhouse International Wine Festival
Tasted Friday, April 1, 2011 by godx with 712 views

Flight 1 (1 Note)

Flight 2 (2 Notes)

  • 2005 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Late Bottled Vintage 88 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Deep ruby red core, brighter red at rim. Nose of dark cherries, black liquorice and Christmas cake spice. In the mouth it’s full bodied with medium acidity and tannins. Flavours dark cherries, ripe plums and dark chocolate. Medium length finish that gives off a little bit of heat. Drink or hold. Very good.

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  • 2005 Fonseca Porto Late Bottled Vintage Unfiltered 87 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Deep ruby red in colour throughout. Slightly muted nose. After vigorous swirling the nose gave up a bubble gum/high toned chemical note with underlying red and black cherry fruit. On the palate there is lots of tannic structure, great acidity and nice dark fruit and milk chocolate flavours. This seemed rougher and more youthful then the Taylor LBV and could definitely use more time. Hold for a few years. Good. 87+

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Flight 3 (2 Notes)

  • 1977 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage 93 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Medium, almost deep, rusty red at the core moving to orange/brown at the rim. Slightly darker than the ’77 Fonseca. Nose is big with a massive amount of Asian spice, ripe yet dried red and black fruits, charred sugar and hints of a green/vegetal note. In the mouth this offers a spicy profile with dried fruits, caramel and some sherry notes too. This is bigger and fuller than the ’77 Fonseca. Drinking beautifully right now with a long life ahead of it. Outstanding.

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  • 1977 Fonseca Porto Vintage 93 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Medium rusty red at the colour moving to orange/brown at the rim. Slightly sherry like nose with notes of oxidized apples, ripe cherry, spice and some nuttiness. Soft in the mouth with flavours of baked cherries, papaya, tobacco, chocolate and baking spices. The alcohol was slighty more noticeable here than on the ’77 Taylor. More refined than the Taylor with smooth and concentrated flavours. Long finish. Like the Taylor, this is drinking very well right now and has a long time to go. Outstanding.

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Flight 4 (2 Notes)

  • 1985 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage 90 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Deep ruby red core with some bricking at the rim. Big nose of Asian spice, tobacco, dried figs some cherries and raisins. Intense darker fruit flavours on the palate complimented by hints of Christmas cake and spice. Quite of bit of tannin and acidity with a medium length finish. Overall this was tighter and more retrained then the 77s but showed a lot of potential. Needs 5-10 years. Excellent. 90+

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  • 1985 Fonseca Porto Vintage 94 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Deep ruby core with very slight bricking at the rim. Big and youthful nose of dark plums, ripe black cherries and soil. In the mouth this is soft and rich with flavours of dried prunes, loads of plums and blackberries. This is very young and tannic with excellent concentration of mainly black fruits on the palate. Lots of structure to match up with the powerful fruit profile. I preferred this over the ’85 Taylor for both current drinking as well as future potential. This will get even better within a decade or two more of cellar time. Outstanding. 94+

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Flight 5 (3 Notes)

  • 1991 Croft Porto Vintage 91 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Deep ruby red at the core with slight bricking at the rim. Spicy nose with dark cherry and chocolate notes. In the mouth it's youthful and giving sweet flavours of dried papaya, figs, blackcurrants and cherries. There’s some heat coming through on the palate with firm and drying tannins. The acidity holds up to the sweetness well and overall the wine is well-balance (sans the slightly noticeable heat). Profile here is quite a bit different than the Taylor or Fonseca Ports. Still a baby with lots of everything and time will do it well. Excellent. 91+

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  • 1994 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage 94 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    My glass was dirty (had a high toned/chemical/soapy smell to it) and was very difficult to evaluate this wine. To check, I tasted from my wife’s glass and hers was much better—powerful, sweet and rich dark fruits with tobacco and earthy notes and a ton of sweet yet firm tannins. A few decades away from hitting peak but trying this beauty now is a very rewarding experience. Outstanding. 94+

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  • 1994 Fonseca Porto Vintage 94 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Dark ruby core with very slight bricking at the rim. Once again my glass was dirty so I had to steal a few sniffs and sips from my wife’s glass. Sweet and concentrated fruits on both the nose and palate with a ton of structure to match. Quite of bit of spice and Christmas cake. The most primary and least developed wine of the night so far besides the 05 LBVs. Hard to pick a favourite between this and the ’94 Taylor. Outstanding. 94+

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Flight 6 (3 Notes)

  • 2007 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage 91 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Deep purple/black colour moving to an almost pink hue at the rim. Massive nose of black cherry, crushed blackberries, spice with hints of acetone. Palate staining flavours similar to the nose. Palate tightening tannins and mouth-watering acidity. Although there is a ton of fruit and structure and some noticeable alcohol, this maintains decent balance. It’s rich and opulent in the mouth with a long finish that gives notes of black liquorice and lots of spice. I won’t attempt to predict when to start drinking this but it’s a long time from now and when this eventually hits peak, it will be an outstanding Port. Excellent. 91+

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  • 2007 Fonseca Porto Vintage 90 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Deep purple/black colour moving to an almost pink hue at the rim. This was very similar in many ways to the ’07 Taylor but had less spice and an overall darker profile of fruit. Equally huge concentration and again incredibly youthful. Very tough to nit-pick the subtle differences but at this early stage I slightly prefer the Taylor to this. In a few decades these two 07s will offer great drinking and probably show more separation than I can detect now. Excellent. 90+

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  • 2007 Croft Porto Vintage 87 Points

    Portugal, Douro, Porto

    Dark purple/black colour with a pinkish rim. Youthful nose with enormous amounts of black fruit and fresh figs. On the palate this is very confected and extracted. Black cherries and plums with a full body and softer tannins than either the Taylor or Fonseca ’07s. My least favourite of this 2007 trio mainly because of its confected profile but perhaps this will change with 15-20 years in the cellar. Good. 87+

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