2018 Taylor

[Alex Bridgeman]

On day 1 this was a deep purple colour, opaque with no rim. A wonderful intense nose of sweet bramble and lavender, very attractive - sweet and dense. Nicely balanced entry, big tannins are wrapped in perfumed fruit. The balance is delightful, based around the dense bramble fruit with its perfumed core. Lots of acidity on the aftertaste revealing more of the structure of the wine. Generous ripe tannins support the blackcurrant pastille core of the aftertaste and almost hide the acidity of the wine. Superbly perfumed and a very fine Port. Initial score of 92-94/100.

By day 4 this wine had developed a bitter entry, biting juniper with immense acidity. Patience allows the blackcurrant to come through but the bitterness doesn’t fade. The tannins are green but very difficult to pick up. A very pleasant aftertaste and fine finish with plenty of fruit and lavender oil. Not sure what to make of this today. A wine very out of character for DG and the Taylor blend. Scored on day 4 as 86-88/100.

The wine did recover somewhat over the rest of the week, closing wth a better balance and astonishingly powerful acidity. Clearly the wine has the acidity to mature for decades.