1985 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port -- now and 9 years ago

[*sweetstuff]

TN: Tayor Fladgate 1985 Vintage Porto, bottled 1987, $30/750 ml at time of purchase, 20.5 pabv: Kobrand Corp., New York, importer.

This was one of my first few case purchases of VP. It's never been a favorite, as I've tasted it a couple times through the years, and it's always seemed very tight and even muddy.

This bottle was removed from the cellar and stood up for two weeks prior to cork removal on Thursday 12/21/2006. The cork came out cleanly; somewhat hard on top and softer on the bottom, despite having been on its side since purchase. Double-decanted back into the original bottle. This was a very clean decanting with only maybe a half-ounce of liquid containing crust; there was plenty of crust, however, but it was very firmly attached to the inside of the bottle. This bottle has been moved perhaps three times in its life when that was unavoidable.

The first day the wine shows a faded purple with greenish cast appropriate for age and type. A quick initial tasting reveals a relatively dry wine that is very tight and giving little or nothing, and so I'll leave it alone and taste it once a day to see where it's going.

At 24 hours, Friday: Densely-textured and viscous. Leather, ginger, dried fruit, woodsmoke. There's a strong element of nougat present, too.

Clean and a bit spiritous on entry, with good fruit definition, echoing the above, predominantly plum as Barbara says with some cherry, resin, and floral elements detectable. The sweetness is becoming more prominent, and it's definitely fructose-style. Tannins are buried by fruit for the most part now; there's a slightly muddy note in the finish. Barbara thinks she smess some petrol, but I think this is what I'm calling ginger and resin. After a couple more hours, the color becomes less greenish-hued purple and more reddish-hued; the tannins become a bit more tactile, and the finish cleaner; the spirits are both more open and more integrated

On Saturday, after a day and night with our nieces Emily and Michaela decorating Christmas trees made of glazed sugar cookies, I got back to the Port. The wine has browned a tad again in color, and seems to be coming together for its final assault on immortality. Leather, cherries, and anise dominate the nose, with a high-toned spiritous etheriality that (borrowing a word from Frédérick Blais) I'll call tea-like. There is still that plum (or sugar-plum) note there too, and later hints of smoke. The wine seems juicy and bigger in the mouth today, with fully-resolved but perceptible tannin, but all the elements work together, moving into a rather seamless and long-lasting aftertaste. Barbara says, 'There's something very bright in this wine, like orange peel.' Bravo! And, Frédérick, you are right--Duoro and minerals are an inseparable match, here in the finish of this wine, too. That bit of muddiness has now become minerality. Will this get better? I'd call it perhaps a 91, with a possible 92 looming.

By Sunday, this wine is still purple with a brownish-green cast to this color-deficient amateur, and I believe it's definitely peaked, being almost identical to the last tasting, if perhaps a touch tired. Mike and Nancy and Barbara and I got out the Stilton and had a party. 91/100.

What does this mean for the long haul? Three to four days until it's peaked says to me that it's at or nearly at its best, but will hold for quite a few years.


Strangely enough, I came across a TN today for this wine that I'd scribbled inside one of my favorite books. I'll quote it verbatim. It's from July 22, 1997--good to see that I knew even then that Port could be drunk in summertime.

Taylor Fladgate 1985 Vintage Porto, (est. bottled). Considerable crusting. Good deep color, enticingly floral nos. Seems very sweet for this house style. Round ripe tannins, now a bit bitter on the very long finish showing licorice and cherries. Too young for full appreciation. Does this wine have the structure for the long haul? A stylistic departure, meant for drinking at 15-20 years, not 25 plus. 88-92 points.

[Gary Banker]

Good review. I have a half case of 750 ml left. When I last had one in May, the tannins were more prominent, but pleasantly so. I look forward to seeing how yours develops.

Gary

[*sweetstuff]

Already this bottle is showing a lot better than any previous taste of this wine I've had over the last twenty-plus years. I'm encouraged too and I'm going to follow this bottle with a lot of interest.