1967 Taylor Vargellas

[benread]

Drunk as part of the Vargellathon- a tasting of Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas port from 1964 to 1996. Held at The Crusting Pipe on Tuesday 24th March 2009.

Note: This bottle was Oporto bottled in 1970

Bottle kindly supplied by me!

[benread]

Decanted 10.30pm on 23rd March.

[JacobH]

Unfortunately, I managed to mislay my notes so this is from memory. Perhaps worth reading in conjunction with my notes from the other '67:

I think this was mine, and most other attendees' first chance to compare bottlings of the same Port; one shipped to the UK and bottled after 2 years, the other after 3. There was some debate as to which of the two '67s was better. I think there was very little in it, although that's not to say that they tasted the same or that, if served blind I'd have any chance of guessing that they were the same wine.

To my palate, the Corney and Barrow bottle had a touch more maturity and complexity (perhaps a consequence of its extra year in the bottle); it felt more like the '64 and '65 whilst the Oporto bottle was heading towards the '72 and '77.

Slightly darker, with a touch more fruit than the Corney & Barrow, but without the complexity of the maturer bottles. I can see why it was liked by many of the others.

[DRT]

Lighter colour than the other 1967 in the line-up. Very sweet smelling nose. Quite light weight with the same bitterness in the finish as the 1965. I preferred the Corney & Barrow bottling of the 1967.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Oporto bottled in 1970. Perfumed, elegant and very attractive on the nose. Lively, tannic and massively fruity in the mouth. Lots of mid-palate activity, really attractive. Dry and tannic with a strong core of acidity that just makes the mouth water uncontrollably. A big but hot aftertaste with lots of black licorice dominating a long length. Very decent sipping wine and much better than its twin. Very enjoyable, but big and slightly clumsy. 86/100. drunk 24 March 2009.

[uncle tom]

I started off having a clear preference for the Corney and Barrow bottling, but then, as the evening wore on, I found my allegiance switch..

Not a massive difference overall, and they were both very nice (and fully mature) quaffs.

Tom