Andrew Rae of [url=http://www.uncorked.co.uk]Uncorked[/url] wrote:...next week our Friday tasting (Bishopsgate Shop, 12-7pm, or whenever the bottles are empty) is dedicated to a slightly quirky selection of Taylor group ports:
1997 Croft Roeda
1979 Delaforce Colheita
Fonseca 10 yo Tawny
Fonseca 20 yo Tawny
1998 Fonseca Panascal
2002 Taylor LBV
There’s no charge and all are welcome.
A selection of ports from Taylor Fladgate
A selection of ports from Taylor Fladgate
In an email to me today...
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
Ernest H. Cockburn
Re: A selection of ports from Taylor Fladgate
I assume that means Friday 7th November? If so, I will certainly try to attend early! See you there if anyone else has similar intentions!
Ben
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Vintage 1970 and now proud owner of my first ever 'half-century'!
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Vintage 1970 and now proud owner of my first ever 'half-century'!
Re: A selection of ports from Taylor Fladgate
Im not sure which Friday he was referring to so probably best if you give them a call.benread wrote:I assume that means Friday 7th November? If so, I will certainly try to attend early! See you there if anyone else has similar intentions!
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
Ernest H. Cockburn
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JacobH
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Re: A selection of ports from Taylor Fladgate
Just realised that I didn’t report back on this, as I had been meaning to do. I had a pleasant 45 minutes last Friday tasting my way through this very good selection of ports with Ben. It was nice to try so many of the bottles that are generally available at retail against one another.
From memory; these were my thoughts:
Tawny
Niepoort 10 Y/O: excellent; by far the best 10 Y/O I’ve tried. Smoother than the colheitas of similar age (as I suppose one might expect). I think I might have found my house Tawny!
Niepoort 20 Y/O: much more complex than the 10 Y/O. Tasted much older with notably less fresh fruit from the 10 Y/O. Putting my neck on the line, I think it’s a bit overpriced and reckon I would have gone for the younger one, tasting blind.
Fonseca 10+20 Y/O: I’m afraid I can’t really remember these beyond feeling that they were no match for the Niepoorts.
Colheita
Delaforce 1979: I remember this reminding me of the ’86, though, again, it seemed too expensive for what it was (despite its relative age).
Niepoort 1994: Annoyingly not as good as the ’98 which I’d tried to buy the week before, but otherwise excellent.
(SQ)VP:
Croft Quinta da Roeda 1997: I think Roeda wins the prize for the ugliest Port labels in existence! Anyway, in terms of taste, there was huge fruit on the nose which was let down badly on the palate where odd taste distinctly lacking in fruit prevailed. Perhaps it was under-decanted? I have some ’95 which I hope combines the great nose with something a bit more palatable. I also I wonder if it ought to be prized at LBV levels (where I’ve seen it priced before and thought it to be quite good value) rather than SQVP level?
Taylor Vargellas 1998: Tasted much like a Taylor SQVP might be expected to taste, with quite a lot of fire. Again, I think it suffered from under-decanting. Needs more time, too.
Fonseca Panascal 1998: This bottle’s position between the Taylor and Neipoort did not do it any favours, though I’m afraid to say, I can’t remember anything about it.
Neipoort Secundum 1999: This was excellent and I think just about pipped Taylor as the best bottle on offer. I gather, though, that the Secundum is designed to be drunk young and with little decanting, which makes sense. I’m not sure for how long this would improve before it started to fade. Anyway, for present drinking it’s pretty good.
This, combined with the tasting the week before, has told me to pay more attention to Neipoort, rather at the expense of Fonseca. I also think I might have found some Tawny and Colheitas that would be nice to drink on a regular basis.
Apparently the next Port tasting will be in December as part of a Christmas Fortified Wine evening and I’d strongly encourage people to attend if possible.
-Jacob
From memory; these were my thoughts:
Tawny
Niepoort 10 Y/O: excellent; by far the best 10 Y/O I’ve tried. Smoother than the colheitas of similar age (as I suppose one might expect). I think I might have found my house Tawny!
Niepoort 20 Y/O: much more complex than the 10 Y/O. Tasted much older with notably less fresh fruit from the 10 Y/O. Putting my neck on the line, I think it’s a bit overpriced and reckon I would have gone for the younger one, tasting blind.
Fonseca 10+20 Y/O: I’m afraid I can’t really remember these beyond feeling that they were no match for the Niepoorts.
Colheita
Delaforce 1979: I remember this reminding me of the ’86, though, again, it seemed too expensive for what it was (despite its relative age).
Niepoort 1994: Annoyingly not as good as the ’98 which I’d tried to buy the week before, but otherwise excellent.
(SQ)VP:
Croft Quinta da Roeda 1997: I think Roeda wins the prize for the ugliest Port labels in existence! Anyway, in terms of taste, there was huge fruit on the nose which was let down badly on the palate where odd taste distinctly lacking in fruit prevailed. Perhaps it was under-decanted? I have some ’95 which I hope combines the great nose with something a bit more palatable. I also I wonder if it ought to be prized at LBV levels (where I’ve seen it priced before and thought it to be quite good value) rather than SQVP level?
Taylor Vargellas 1998: Tasted much like a Taylor SQVP might be expected to taste, with quite a lot of fire. Again, I think it suffered from under-decanting. Needs more time, too.
Fonseca Panascal 1998: This bottle’s position between the Taylor and Neipoort did not do it any favours, though I’m afraid to say, I can’t remember anything about it.
Neipoort Secundum 1999: This was excellent and I think just about pipped Taylor as the best bottle on offer. I gather, though, that the Secundum is designed to be drunk young and with little decanting, which makes sense. I’m not sure for how long this would improve before it started to fade. Anyway, for present drinking it’s pretty good.
This, combined with the tasting the week before, has told me to pay more attention to Neipoort, rather at the expense of Fonseca. I also think I might have found some Tawny and Colheitas that would be nice to drink on a regular basis.
Apparently the next Port tasting will be in December as part of a Christmas Fortified Wine evening and I’d strongly encourage people to attend if possible.
-Jacob
