Help me describe Taylor's LBV 2002

[Morten O]

I'm enjoying a few glasses of Taylor's LBV 2002 and I'm trying to figure out what it tastes of, if it's sweet or has a lot of acid and tannins, the lenght and the body of it. I'm a complete rookie when it comes to this no matter what type of wine I'm having.

Okay, here we go: The alcohol is well integrated and compared to the other LBV's I've had it's almost hidden. Very good. The nose is a bit vague, as is the body and the length. I've definately had other LBV's that were a lot more fruity than this one. What I'm particularly in doubt about is whether the wine has a lot of acid and less tannins or if it's just because it more dry than my "reference LBV's".
I have no idea what it smells and tastes of, except fruit . There are some elements that I can smell and taste that I can't describe with words. Having just watched "Oz and James" I should go out and smell everything I read of that people say that some (port) wines smell of to get to know that smell ...

It hasn't been decanted. That may explain why it's so "closed"?

So, are any parts of my analysis on track? 2x

[Todd Pettinger]

Morten,

Can't help you with the 2002 Taylor LBV, I haven't yet seen it in my market.

Some of the tastes/smells that I have experienced in some of my Ports are:

-grapes
-cherries
-raspberries
-blackberries
-currents (both red and black)
-orange peel/citrus (typical in many tawnies)
-strawberry (rare for me)

non-fruit smells:
-earth
-smoke
-tobacco

Couple of additions (can't believe these didn't come to me earlier)
-licorice
-plums (you'll taste this in a lot of different ports, not sure about the Taylor 2002 LBV tho)

Hope this helps.

Once I see Taylor 2002 LBV around in Edmonton, I may try to dig this thread up and update!

Todd

[Michael Whitehead]

2002 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Late Bottled Vintage

$16.99(duty free)

chocolate raspberry flavours with ripe raisin nose. tasting quite alcoholic & hot, but this is pop and pour, will observe for a few hours.

[Roy Hersh]

Michael,

You mentioned Duty Free ... can we assume, from an airport shop?

I think you may find that if you leave this bottle for a day or two, now that you've taken some wine out which puts some air in it, the alcohol may integrate a bit better. I typically find that LBVs show best around the 3rd day the bottle is open, rarely upon popping the cork/T-stopper and pouring are they at their best.

[Lars F]

Morten, I have exactely the same problem. How to describe the smell and taste. I find it extremely difficult to determine what flavors and smell I encounter, and most of the time other peoples descriptions doesn't help. Todd kindly lists some smells and tastes he has experienced, but I have never been able to distinguish the fruit smells he and many other describe. I have sometimes been able to smell blackcurrant in ordinary red wines, but even that is rare. Even the orange/citrus peel, which many identify in tawnies, I've yet to discover clearly.

It would be good to have a list of wines with very clear (commonly agreed) smells and tastes. E.g. 10 of 10 tasting notes identify clear cherry flavor in Churcill LBV 2001 or something like that. Then you'd know that this wine is a good way to practice identifying this distinct flavor. In that way you'd avoid the problem that the same flavor is described a flavor as dark fruit, cherry or blackberries.
:blah:

-Lars

[Michael Whitehead]

thanks roy. yes, airport shop, which i would assume was a decent deal?

and i have 1/2 bottle left for this evening...

[Eric Menchen]

Google "wine aroma wheel" or "wine flavor wheel" and you should come up with a lot of different ways to describe the aromas and flavors of wine. Maybe someone around here can comment on how much of it is commonly found in ports. Another fruit I thought of for port is apricot. I've tasted lychee in German white wines, but can't say I've detected it in a port. BTW, there is also a beer flavor wheel. That reminds me of the different citrus flavors that come from different hops, and the fact I've tasted grapefruit in at least one wine, but again, not a port. Figs? Prunes?

[Morten O]

Eric, that makes sense if you are looking for the words. For me it's about how to identify the flavors, even though I have a list of common flavors.

Returning to my initial posting, I think the best approach is to have a sample of a specific flavor and eat/smell/drink it while drinking and smelling the wine. I know from experience that this sometimes work to enhance the flavor if it is present in the wine.

One house (or style) I can always remember and recognize is the pepper in Portal's VPs and SQVPs. I don't remember if it goes for their LBVs too.

To me, many 2003 LBVs taste much the same. They have different lenght, tannin intensity, flavor intensity and general intensity. To me most of them are often just very fruity -- and I really like them

[Eric Menchen]

Ahhh. As for identifying the flavors, I recall a wine guy on Conan O'Brien one night trying to teach Conan about wines. He had a bunch of "raw materials" that they would smell and taste before drinking the wines, like rocks, dirt, socks, tobacco, and various foods. So perhaps that can work.

If you don't want to do that, at least in evaluating hops, I've found that comparing and contrasting different things at the same time can help. Taste one wine by itself and another a day later, and can you really distinguish a black currant from a red currant? I'm sure some people can, but I can't. Of course part of that is that I haven't had enough red currants in my life. But taste them side by side, and you'll notice the subtle difference. For hops, side by side I can sometimes distinguish lemon from lime from orange from grapefruit, but alone I tend to just think of citrus (well, sometimes I can say orange or lemon); side by side I can say that one is more of a spruce and another more a southern pine, but alone it is just resiny.

-Eric

[Todd Pettinger]

I looked back, sure that I had posted a TN on the 2002 Taylor LBV since this thread was first created (I was going to paste the TN in here) but alas, I cannot find one. I will check on my other computer (typically used for TNs at that time that I would have created it) and see if I can track it down and post.

For now though, I would describe the 2002 Taylor LBV as one thing: painful. Painfully acidic and tannic. I am going off memory here, but I felt this port might be decent after about 5 years of decanter time (I am almost not kidding here.) I felt I had perhaps gotten one bad bottle, so I did go back for a second and sourced it at a different store but wound up with the same experience. I haven't been willing to repeat it in recent weeks/months so it must be time for another shot. I haven't made a good bolognese sauce recently in any case, so if it works out the same, I know what to do!

IIRC this port prompted a pretty bad bout of indigestion from the excessive acids and tannins that were in it. Almost painful. First attempt was a pop-n-pour, 2nd I gave it roughly a day of decanter time. Even after sampling at 3, 4 and 5 days it was no good, so into a reduction it went, although it was mighty fine reduction with lamb chops seared to rare perfection! Morton, I pledge to get another couple bottles of this and try again. If I get the same results, I'm gonna bury a couple in the back of the cellar and see if 3-5 years of age will soften them up!

Todd