May 2006 Virtual Tasting - 2000 Taylor LBV

[Richard Henderson]

I noticed some recent enthusuastic posts on the virtual tasting poll thread.
The port most wanted to try in this virtual tasting is the Taylor LBV 2000.
This will be the thread and we will begin posting on May 1, 2006 just over 48 hours from now.

[Paul Eddy]

I have never posted a TN before and thought I would do so before anyone else just so that I am not influenced by more knowledgeable palates.

TN: On opening the bottle We (ie my wife and I) smelt caramelised sugar and sweet plums a good start. I decanted the bottle and after 20 mins poured a measure.

Appearance: Dark ruby red clear and brightish

Nose: Alcohol and fruit; pleasant

Palate: Soft and sweet, some fruit but we found it difficult to identify
it, possibly a hint of blackcurrant jam; warming as you
swallowed a but a rather short finish.

Will post more as it hopefully develops

Cheers Paul.

[Andy Velebil]

Paul,
Congrats on your first tasting note . I hope others will follow your lead and post one too.

I just opened mine. A very dark center that slightly faded to a red at the edge. The nose had a wonderful berry jam scent. The palate was suprisingly smooth that was also full of fruit (blackberrys and just a faint hint of cherry). It had a wonderful medium length (and typical Taylor's LBV) warm finish.

I will say one of the better LBV's I've had recently. I will have to remember to pick up a couple more.

[Richard Henderson]

The case I thought had the Taylor 2000 LBV has the Taylor First Esate. I apparently had two bottles of the 2000 LBV which were drunk in March so I am back to the market to find a bottle. I did check my March post on the 2000 Taylor LBV and my notes are consistent with the first two notes.
I shall get another bottle and try it again!

[Frederick Blais]

Just got mine today. Dark ruby center gently fading to the edge. Nice nose but somewhat unexpected flavours for a port of provencial herbs intermixed with cassis and currant jam and a chocolaty touch, volatil flavours are also showing if you swirl too much the glass. Jucy mouth entry, nice fruits, ripe, good concetration, lots of licorice and currant on the finish and dry tannins, but really short and showing alcohol. I like my LBV with a bit more fat and less dry tannins but it is probably the best Taylor since their 1995. 14.5/20

[Richard Henderson]

I bought a case Wednesday, May 3d. I opened a bottle that evening.
It had the nice deep ruby color and the fruit I call huckleberry with some spices on the bouquet, a little hot on the nose. This was not as good as the bottle I opened and posted on March 31. Medium finish.
It had medium fruit on the palate, but it is very hot.
Night two, the heat has faded, a little more bouquet , fruit a little faded.
Night three, all heat is gone, the fruit has returned , more bouquet of ripe dark berry fruit and mint. Very smooth on the palate, the silky mouthfeel of a Taylor. Finish a little longer.
This bottle was better on the 3rd night.
I give it 88 points. I gave the March 31 bottle a 90.

I think I will open another bottle in about a week and post again.

At $18 U.S., I believe this represents good value. This is a much lower price than a Taylor or almost any other VP.
The NV's and LBV's are not supposed to be 95+ blockbusters and are not marketed as such.
I like the price, the easy opening plastic capped/cork stopper. It is not like opening a rare 63 with lots of folks to ooh and ahh and concentrate on the nuances.
This is sip alone on the second story deck while the moon rises with a nice cigar after every one else has gone to bed.....

[simon Lisle]

I thought this was a poor lbv in my opinion(which is limited)I had a dows 99 not so long back which was a hundred percent better, I was dissapointed with this one which I bought by chance at tesco's.By the way they are selling Dows vintage 85 for £35.I wish now I'd bought the Grahams tawny for roughly the same price.

[David G.]

I just bought 2 bottles of the Taylor 2000 LBV for the virtual tasting. What is the recommended serving temperature?

[Frederick Blais]

David, I'd say between 16 and 18 celcius.

I've tasted it again tonight, like Richard, I find it better. Still showing alcohol but to me the mouth had more structure and pleasant fruit.

[Richard Henderson]

I had a 4th and final glass from this bottle last night. Fading but still holding its own, Very pleasant. More complex bouquet. I could smell the brandy more. They use fine brandy to blend into the fermenting grape juice to kill the yeast and fortify the wine. Why shouldn't smell and taste the "heat"?
It was still a pleasnt glass of port.
I look forward to trying it again next week.

[David G.]

I chilled this in my wine cellar overnight to 50 degrees (F!) and am tasting / drinking it now in a Spiegelau Port glass as a post prandial after cleaning my palate with water. I did not decant it. As I started pouring it, the color started as purplish, then became darker with maroon around the edges. The aroma definitely includes pepper, smoke and tobacco in that order with balanced spice. In the mouth, it has just has a bit of sweetness and a very smooth feel on the tongue. It has just a very tiny hint of heat in the back of the mouth as I swallow it, and a definite lasting "finish" or continuing taste of pepper rising into my nose and bit of sweetness lasting on the tongue. No fruit flavors though. This is a much better taste out of the bottle than the Fonseca bin 27 that I had last week and a better value at only $2 more per bottle. I shall see, taste and smell how it develops.


I'm starting to feel the alcohol now, but that is after the wine with dinner (a Meursault).

[Al B.]

I opened my bottle yesterday morning and decanted it for 11 hours before tasting. I noticed as I took off the capsule that a date had been printed - I assume that this particular wine was bottled in 2005.

The bottle was sealed with a T-stopper and had no sediment when decanted - it did release that lovely blackcurrant pie smell that I always associate with young ports (or, at least which I associate with young ports ever since Mario and Roy forced me to drink a 2003 VP last year).

The wine was a deep red, very dark in the centre, slight hint of purple. Explosive nose of fruit, fruit, fruit - all blackcurrants and bramble jam. Sweet and fruity into the mouth, woody backbone. Very acidic structure, but well balanced. Some tannin in the mid palate. Good complexity. Rather short aftertaste, pleasant tones of chocolate cake. 86/100.

I agree with Richard that this is sip alone on the second storey deck port....except I don't have a deck and don't smoke cigars....and would prefer to be sipping a 1963 port.... 8)

Interesting that there has been much more consistency so far between tasting notes for this wine than there was for the Bin 27.

Alex

[Derek T.]

I finished my bottle over a period of 4 days and did not notice a significant change from beginning to end, other than the temperature variation explained below. I did not decant this bottle as is my normal approach to filtered LBV.

I picked up the same young port smell that Alex refers to - IMO this is unusually dense fruit for a simple LBV. Very dark colour. Lots of black fruit initially but a slight bitterness at the back of the tongue in a quite short finish. Not mush heat to speak of which I find unusual for Taylor. I enjoyed this very much apart from the slightly disppointing finish. A good port for the end of a hard day at work.

I did have a bit of an experiment with this bottle to see what impact the drinking temperature would have. When I first opened the bottle it had been in a cool cupboard and was at my "normal" drinking temperature of around 17-18 C. The taste experience was as described above.

I then left the bottle sitting out in the kitchen for 24 hours. The next day was unusually warm for this part of the world (24 C) and by the time evening came the wine was obviously still much warmer than the previous evening, probably 20C+ - it tasted awful the big young fruit smell have gone and it tasted very thin and weak. I immediately put the bottle in the fridge to bring the temperature back down. After about 30 mins in the fridge the smell and taste was back to where it was the previous day. The bottle remained in the fridge for 48 hours and by the time I came back to it it was chilled below. This killed the smell but the taste was much the same as before, if only slightly delayed whilst the wine warmed up in the mouth.

I would recommend trying this type of experiment to find what is best for you with various styles of port - you never know, you might be missing some great tastes and smells if you are drinking at a temperature that doesn't suit the wine.

Derek

[David G.]

After 24 hours in the refrigerator, the LBV tasted very similar, maybe a bit less spicy when at close to those temperatures. I then poured a second glass and let it warm up to 70 degrees. I tasted some jam fruit flavors then but a much hotter back of the mouth taste. It was much better at refrigerator or wine cellar temperatures.

[Andy Velebil]

After just finishing this bottle a couple of days ago, about a week after opening it, I agree with David and Derek. This LBV really shows best when around celler temps, around 60-65 degrees (16-18 celsius). I figured this out after I poured a glass and then got side tracked by an unexpected visitor. The glass warmed up to room temps, around 75 degrees (after all we are getting some wonderful afternoon sun here in L.A.), and there was quite a noticable change.

The bottle held up well and tasted about the same for the first 4-5 days. By the last day or so those fresh flavors were starting to lessen allowing a bit more spice and alcohol to show. Not bad and still pleasantly drinkable. As I said earlier a very nice LBV and one I will get again this week.

[Frederick Blais]

By the last day or so those fresh flavors were starting to lessen allowing a bit more spice and alcohol to show.

I was just about to write the same thing about the glasses I had last night. But on my side, I'm never buying Taylor's LBV, not my style.

[John Conwell]

I was just about to open my bottle, but had a question. Some people on this tasting thread decanted the Taylor LBV, and others didnt. I couldnt find anything on the bottle that states if its filtered or unfiltered.

Which is the 2000 Taylor LBV. Filtered or unfiltered? Should I decant it? Does it matter with this bottle?

[Richard Henderson]

What the heck, decant half and leave half in the bottle and compare the two halves. We have folks comparing ambient and liquid temperatures! Why not decant some and not decant some?
I would say that none of the bottles has much sediment. I think that the reason to decant would be aeration and help blow off some of the heat. i did not decant my bottle. It is better at 56 degrees cellar temp.

[Frederick Blais]

John, the Taylor LBV is a "commercial" one, no sediments is in the bottle right now. I don't think this LBV needs decanting, maybe if you think to drink it all the same night.

[David G.]

Three days later, even straight from the refrigerator, this port has a more open flavor, some fruit, more evenly spiced from the first taste on the tongue to its finish. It's still rather dry, not buttery.

I'll probably buy some more bottles of this, if I can find space for them.