For The Love Of Port

Although I have had many bottles of this wine, I had not had a '63 Taylor since October of last year. Seemingly a long time, it was worth the wait. I was at a friend's home while at one of my tasting group's monthly sessions. It was tete de cuvee Champagne night and this VP was the last wine of the evening, after a great line up of Bollinger, Salon and even a vertical of Krug. But after the bubbly and other white desserts had subsided, it was time for:

1963 Taylor Vintage Port - this showed a bit of evolution and the color showed a medium light pinkish red color and when looking at this wine, I thought it had not been decanted long enough, although I was not certain of the vintage nor producer at the time. I guessed a '66 Taylor and was then told it was Taylor but it did not look as if it had the bottle age of a '63.

This wine offered up wonderful and evolved notes of marzipan, hazelnuts and caramel. There was a bit of overt alcohol on the nose too but this bottle had only been open about 4 and a half hours when we started to drink it. The mouthfeel was soft and a bit hot from the spirity character but otherwise was quite soft and appealing. The palate delivered some soft and mature prune and raisiny nuances with a touch of caramel that was sweet and delicious. The finish was marred by the overt alcohol which was a distraction to the enjoyment, but I was still able to overlook it. This was a rather mature showing for the '63 and although it was clearly a British bottling with facsimile label, it was indiscernible as to which retailer had bottled it. The long length of the finish was great but again, the alcohol was a significant distraction. I enjoyed it anyway! 93 pts.

As 63 is my birth year I'd be happy to take any of those alcoholic ports off your hands Roy

Thanks for your note, Roy. One of my favorite houses from one of my favorite years. I bought my first three bottles at the Ft. Worth Opera Wine Auction in 1994. I paid $115/bottle. Our guest auctioneer had donated 3 bottles from a London cellar. We drank them at special occasions including my brother's wedding and special dinners with some special friends. Those bottles are long gone but I recently found a new supply. Now I have two more '63 Taylor's to try.

Richard,
can you give me an idea of what price these retail for now ?
as I said it's my birth year and I'm wondering whether a lottery win is necessary ?

Those 1994 bottles were a relative bargain at $115 each. The replacments purchased earlier this spring of 2005 were $225, if memory serves. The very best deal on 1963 port in recent years was the Graham's Berry Bros which a local retailer closed out at $125 last fall.
As Roy recommends , go to Winesearcher and input vintage port, 1963. Several are popping up at $150-200. Taylor 63 starts at $225 U.S about $170 UK.

Thanks Richard.
I know about winesearcher but was interested to gauge what prices
come up from time to time as "offers"
you did very well back in 94 !
cheers

Ray,

I don't know if you get the e-mails from George Rhys in London. I recently got what I think was a very good deal from them on some 100 point Taylor 92 Half bottles. They seem to find good stuff regulary. Since you are right there in London, I would give them a call and see what they have in the inventory of 63 Taylor.

Thanks Richard,
I've never heard of George Rhys !
Do you have any contact no's ?

44(0) 2078012430,

Roy I think is familiar with George and his partner, Piers.

Thanks for the prompt reply.
A typo when googling misled me.
Yes I know of them from a post by Roy on the Squires board recently.
I'll get in touch and buy a lottery ticket as well.
cheers

Ray

We can't go a whole day without a post on this board!!!

Ray,

What kinda price are your looking for? Save 30 quid a month in a port slush fund . In four months you have 120pounds , enough to buy a bottle of 1963 Taylor from some place in London, I would wager. Do that every month for a year and you have enough for 3 bottles.
Much more reliable than a lottery ticket.

I like your savings strategy ! Now if only those pesky kids wouldn't pester me about ps2 games

It's my birthday in two weeks and I plan to open my sole bottleof 63- a Warres. Though some recent posts on this board have me feeling a bit worried as they've suggested all but the top ones are on a slide downwards.

any thoughts on decanting times ?

Roy knows more about decanting than I do and more than probably anyone else .
I would guess that he would recommend 6-8 hours.

Richard,
I hope he (or others) chip (s) in as I had planned about two as I fear it may be past it's best. I am afraid of finding an imbalance that favours alcohol over fruit. I am a port novice so I will heed your advice.

btw this is becoming our own private chatline !

There seem to be soem eavesdroppers based upon the number of views of the topic on our conversation.
Roy recommends a lot longer decanting than I was accustomed . If I understand him, the extra time allows for the alcohol to evaporate and allows for a correction of the imbalance of alcohol over fruit.

very interesting,
precisely tho opposite of what I thought.
I based my opinion from the usual advice not to decant old red wines as the fruit can fall away quickly.

Ray , go back to the top post by Roy on this thread. He mentions that the 63 Taylor was open "only" 4.5 hours. He speaks of the overt alcohol and its distraction, but that he was able to overlook it.
On the Squires BB Roy has recommended several hours decanting for old ports.

Though Richard he recommends no more that two hours for the 63 Nacional on another thread. :o

He must have been confused or hit the wrong key. Surely he meant 12 hours or 20 hours! Where is he? In Oporto?
I would be surprised if he did not reccomend 6-8 hours on a 1963 Warre's.

If you don't mind another person chipping in on this - and hopefully not too late for your birthday bottle of port - I might be able to offer another option on decanting times.

I am often surprised by the time that Roy recommends for decanting, but I am firmly convinced that most ports improve in the decanter over a certain amount of time.

Like Ray, my birth year is 1963 and I have been lucky enough to have the Burmester, the Sandeman and the Taylor's from that vintage. (My birthday present this year will be a bottle of the Fonseca!) I have found that even these wines are robust enough to take a good few hours in decanter. In fact, the Burmester was the one I drank most recently and I committed a heresy in Roy's eyes in that I drank it over a period of about 5 days. What was amazing to me was the way the wine evolved over that time. My palate is not the most sensitive, but the wine was certainly not "off" by the time the last glass was drunk.

I tried my first sip straight after decanting, when the wine was alcoholic and fiery with little fruit showing through. I had my last sip 5 days later when the wine was warm, well balanced, very sweet and tasted of caramel ice cream.

I would be very suprised if that Warre's you have does not drink beautifully. In fact, if you live anywhere near Wokingham in Berkshire then give me a shout and I'll come round for your birthday and bring a bottle of the Sandeman '63 with me. We can try the two of them against each other!

In terms of price, currently the Taylors is retailed by Berry Brothers for £200 and the Fonseca for £208. Fine and Rare Wine have them for around £135 plus postage but you have to spend at least £200 with them.

Otherwise, just tell us all how the Warre '63 tastes!

Enjoy,

Alex