NV Taylor Fladgate 30 Year Old Tawny Port, Portugal (750ml)

WINEMAKER’S NOTES:

Blended from Taylor Fladgate’s reserves of fine, cask-aged tawnies of several vintages, these wines are on average 30 years old. Rich, silky and elegant, it is a masterpiece of the blender’s art.

TASTING NOTES:

A bright, ruddy tawny, with an olive rim. Vigorous on both the nose and palate, with a classy Cognac-like spirit character and lifted drive. Well-structured, with a walnut, green (tomato plant) and black cardamom edge to its tightly focused fruit notes of dried apricot and fig, along with hints of salted caramel. The penetrating, back-of-the-net finish is very precise, lingering and in the Taylors house style.

– Decanter, 96 pts.

Singed cinnamon, dried cherry and persimmon notes form the core in this suave offering, which streams through a finish marked with bergamot, hazelnut and sandalwood. Leans toward flattering with its sweetness, while a bitter orange hint whispers on the finish.

– Wine Spectator, 95 pts.

Caramel and butterscotch with some figs and dried fruit. Medium-bodied with a very fine texture that turns creamy. The finish shows milk chocolate, nuts and fruit. Medium sweet. Pecan pie.

– James Suckling, 95 pts.

The NV 30 Year Old Tawny Port was bottled in February 2016 with a bar-top cork and comes in with 126 grams per liter of residual sugar. The last release of this I saw was the 2014. Obviously, the differences are typically small from year to year and they are not side by side, but this didn’t show quite as well early on, whether due to it being a different release or just a different context. It shows good concentration while retaining some mid-palate finesse. It is complex, then it adds a powerfully intense finish laced with burnt orange peel and molasses as it warms. If I had a quibble, there was some noticeable alcohol, especially when retasted the next day. Some three or four days later, it was far smoother, but it is always a little edgy. Overall, this is a fairly stern style, dry and brooding, with that hint of spirits in the background. It reminds me of the stereotypical scene with Port (or Cognac), cigars and blue cheese. It just has that serious feel to it, along with that long finish. It seems to be one, as discussed in the accompanying article, that leans more to a 40-year Port. As always, these last indefinitely, barring cork failures, but they are not really meant to be held.

– Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 92 pts.