Page 1 of 1

2007 Taylor Vintage Port

Posted: 20:46 Wed 26 Aug 2009
by Portman
Drunk at the Taylor's lodge in Porto after a 1 hour decant.

Caveat: I do not have a lot of experience tasting very young vintage ports. Having said that, as soon as I tasted this wine, I had a name for it: Immortal Beloved. There was so much going on in this glass of port that it was nearly a sensory overload. Purple black, it was a full bodied wine with big gobs of black fruit, huge searing tannins, and bracing acidity - this wine had it all in abundance, but everything was in balance. It was like a sports car that has an immense engine, giant aircraft brakes, and a tight suspension. Everything was huge, but in balance. Behind all the primary flavors, like shadowy ghosts, were notions of lavendar, blueberries, flint and minerals, waiting to come forth no doubt years from now. No question this will be a wine that will be drinking well long after we are all dead. I wish I were 30 years younger and had a case of it. If the other declared 2007s are this good this is going to be a memorable year. 95+ points.

Re: 2007 Taylor Vintage Port

Posted: 22:53 Sat 29 Aug 2009
by Alex Bridgeman
A really interesting note. When I tasted the Taylor, it had none of the balance that you have experienced. I wonder if the final blend just needed a couple of months to settle. I shall try to retaste when I next get the chance.

Re: 2007 Taylor Vintage Port

Posted: 01:15 Mon 31 Aug 2009
by Glenn E.
My notes on the 2007 Taylor indicate that it was balanced, and showed good black/purple fruits along with some minerality, but that it just didn't wow me. I noted only good tannins and good acidity and gave it a 90-93 rating. I just didn't see what some of the "big name" reviewers are seeing in this, because while it is clearly a very fine Port I do not feel it is among the top performers of the vintage.

I've only had the opportunity to taste it once, though, so it's possible that the one bottle I was able to try was underperforming in some way.

Re: 2007 Taylor Vintage Port

Posted: 01:49 Mon 31 Aug 2009
by uncle tom
I've yet to try this one, yet the reportage is leaving me confused..

I've seen photos and heard reports of it being pale, and have read quotes form the winemakers saying that they could have made it dark - if they had wanted to..

..but now we have a note describing it as 'purple black'.. :shock:

It's not alone. Two samples from Niepoort were so different as to be completely unrecognisable on the palate, although visually they were similar. A disappointing bottle from Crasto (but with no easily identified defects) was followed by a very sound replacement that was also very different.

Is this just growing pains?

Tom

Re: 2007 Taylor Vintage Port

Posted: 02:27 Mon 31 Aug 2009
by Portman
Maybe I can provide a little more context. This was the last of eight ports I tasted, a Taylor Ruby, an LBV, Tawny 10, 20, 30, and 40 year olds, a Quinta de Vargellas 2005, and finally the 2007. So, as is the case with any tasting, the lineup should be considered a factor. Perhaps if I had tasted across a number of other 2007s the note would be a little different. But not much. This was quintessential Taylor, still young and fruity, but balanced and potentially classic.

Re: 2007 Taylor Vintage Port

Posted: 05:52 Mon 31 Aug 2009
by Glenn E.
uncle tom wrote:..but now we have a note describing it as 'purple black'.. :shock:
My two tastes (4 days apart) of the one bottle I have tried describe it as purple with 3/16" to 1/4" of fade near the rim.

In the nomenclature I was using for the 2007 cask samples, "purple" was the neutral descriptor that meant a very deep, dark, purple that to me appeared to be 50% red and 50% blue. From there I could deviate slightly by noting extra blue or extra red in the color, drawing it toward violet or garnet respectively. But in no case could any of the 2007s that I tried (28 in all) be described as "pale." To the last they could be described as inky and opaque.

I was using a white-cased ball-point pen to measure the fade at the rim. A ball-point pen is about 1/4" in diameter, and in most cases I could not see the entire width of the pen when held behind a glass (which was held at a 45 degree angle) aligned with the very edge of the Port. These were very dark, very opaque Ports.

The Taylor was one of the handful that could display the pen's entire width, but just barely. The 1/16" differences from glass to glass were almost undetectable without the aid of a reference (such as the pen I was using) so most people would probably call all of them "inky black" or something similar. I think Roy was a little amused at the lengths to which I was going in order to find differences in the Ports we were tasting. :lol:

So... that's a long-winded way of saying that I agree completely with Portman's assessment. I'm just a few points lower on the rating than he, which as well all know could be due to bottle variation.
uncle tom wrote:Two samples from Niepoort were so different as to be completely unrecognisable on the palate, although visually they were similar.
I encountered this several times during my tastings. The 4-day span we were using to evaluate the samples in many cases resulted in Day 1 and Day 4 tastings that, had they been served side-by-side, I would have sworn were different Ports. It is truly astounding how much these cask samples change over time and from bottle to bottle. It really makes me doubt the accuracy of some of the big name critics who taste once and pronounce judgement.