#14 What is your favorite vintage of Taylor VP?

[Roy Hersh]

I have good reason to love Taylor and drink it too. Yet it is not my favorite Shipper of Port wine.

Of course the 1970 is very special to me, but I have had more Taylor Vintage Port in the past 9 months than the past 8 years! But this is not all about me. What I really DO care about is, what is YOUR favorite vintage of Taylor Fladgate VP and why?

There are so many amazing ones that I can think of, from the 1900, to the 1912 and 1927 no less the awe inspiring 1935 that some people go crazy over. Then we get to the middle of the 20th century for legends like the 1955, 1963 and 1966 then head to the monsters like 1970 and 1977. I've never been impressed with 1983 or 1985, or even the slightly better 1980; not that they are objectionable ... just disappointing to me, given what Taylor is capable of. With 1992 and especially 1994 Taylor was firmly back on track and both 2000 and 2003 have been extremely successful in their youth.

So where are you at in your thinking and drinking of Taylor's VP? If you can only pick one favorite Vintage of Taylor ... what's it going to be?

Caveat: No Taylor SQVP is to be included as we'll get to Terra Feita, Vargellas and Vargellas Vinha Velha in due course. So please DO stick to the "classic" Taylor Vintage Port.

[Frederick Blais]

The best souvenirs I got from a Taylor was from a 1970 VP drank for a friend's birthday. It was special because it was the first old VP I was able to buy at a decent price when Roy started to put ads in the Market section. At the same time a friend of mine was travelling near to Saratoga Wine shop and brought me back this bottle

I do think and hope too that 2003 will go along the same line, its potential is enormous!

[Moses Botbol]

1948, 1955, 1963, & 1970 are few good vintages. Not sure if I have a single favorite; perhaps the '48? As like every brand 1970 is great...

[Todd Pettinger]

I don't have a lot of experience with many classic Taylor Vintages, seeing as how they are exceedingly expensive in Canada, but I have tried the following vintages:
1963
1966
1970
1983
1985
2000
2003

Of them I found the 2000 and 2003 to be huge, no where close to being ready to drink, but very good. I will eventually get a few cases of the '03 from myself and my first born, who is an '03 baby. '66 and '63 were both excellent and I felt priviledged to have been able try both of them. I have one '77 in the cellar, but it is for my wife's 40th (or maybe 50th) birthday, so I have not been able to try that vintage, although I wish I could.

If I had to pick just one favourite, I believe it would have to be the 1970

Todd

[Roy Hersh]

Todd,

May I ask why you chose 1970 over the 1963 and 1966? What about it did you like better?

[Ronald Wortel]

I wish I could say that the 1948 was my favourite, but the one time I tasted this legendary port, I was slightly underwhelmed by it. The bottle had probably leaked slightly, and it showed.

So, the competition is between 1963, 1970 and 1977, because I've never been much impressed by Taylors from the '80's (except the phenomonal 1987 Vargellas, but that one is not allowed in this list), and the ports from the 90's and 2000 on are simply much too young. While all three are superb, my vote goes to the 1963. Such a beautiful, complete and complex port. So lovely to drink, but with a long live ahead of it. Perfection.

[Glenn E.]

Well my answer is easy because I have only ever tasted one Taylor VP... but at least it's a good one! 1970 (thanks Roy!) would be my favorite, but from the taste of it I suspect that any of these blockbuster Taylors would be fantastic.

[Alan Gardner]

I think it has to be the 48.
Tasted 3 times and two of them were amazing - the third disappointing.
But the two good ones were like being enveloped in Port - the taste seemed to exceed the aroma and taste and even enter the pores. (No it wasn't a fantasy!).

[Moses Botbol]

We drank a 1980 Taylor Magnum (along with 1980 Warre). The 80 Taylor had more fruit than I associate with Taylor and well balanced. Another solid Taylor port, but I doubt it will be on most "Favorite Vintage of Taylor". Pretty hard bottle to find also.

[Derek T.]

I haven't had enough Taylor VPs to give an informed view on this. From notes and memory I think I have had the 55, 63, 66, 70, 80 and 85. Of those I believe I have only had the 66 twice and the others once each.

I have to say that my experience of Taylor is that I am slightly underwhelmed by all of those I have tasted. All were very good wines but on every occassion they have been beaten by some considerable margin by their peers from the same vintage. The one that stands out for me as being a surprise was the 1985. I had read bad things about this wine but I found it to be much better than expected so I will vote for that one just to be kind to it.

One thing that I would say is that, for me, Taylor VP is grossly over-priced. I have no problem paying top whack for a Fonseca or Graham from a top vintage but the equivalent Taylor never seems to appeal. Perhaps someone needs to let me taste a really good one to change my mind :devil:

Derek

[Lamont Huxley]

I haven't had the range of experience that a lot of folks here have, but I've had a bunch of more recent Taylor's. To date I've sampled the 75, 77, 80, 85, 94, and 97 vintages. All of them were good ports, but the 77, 94, and 97 were great. The 94 was the hardest to asess because I drank it rather young, but it was a real monster and should be awesome eventually. The 77 was a lovely port with lots of youth left and great balance, but I have to go with the 97 (tasted this past March) for it's combination of complexity and power. It exemplified that "iron fist in the velvet glove" quality that I've often heard associated with Taylor's ports - powerful structure, huge body, silky texture, beautiful meaty/floral nose. It's obviously still young, but I thought it was fantastic, though it seems that the 2000 and 2003 get a lot more lip service than the 97. I haven't had them, so I wouldn't know, but is the 97 perhaps overlooked? I've got one bottle tucked away but hope to get more.

[Andy Velebil]

Tough one as I've had a number of really great Taylor's. The 2000 and 2003 are both superb and I give a slight preference to the latter. Roy recently shared a bottle of the 1994 with me and that was just killer. I also really like the 1977 and 1970. But prefer the previous one a touch better. But if I had to chose one, it would be a bottle that I enjoyed with several members of this forum...the 1948 Taylors VP. If there was a rock-star-of-Port award, this would be a winner in my book. It has to be the greatest Taylor's I've had. A phenomenal bottle and one that I do hope to have again one day.

[Roy Hersh]

Lamont,

In the May FTLOP newsletter, I detail one of four verticals of Taylor that I had between November and the end of January. It was a crazy time. Now thinking back ... November in Edmonton, Phoenix, and Oporto and in December in NY. I have done a number of other Taylor verticals on quite a few other occasions including earlier in 2007 (April in Miami) but none quite so deep as the one in Oporto that was held for a dozen Port jouranlists from around the world. I am not sure if you are a newsletter subscriber, but if you are ... have another look at that article with TNs on just about every major vintage of Taylor VP, (27 in all) between 1900 to date. There is also an entire vertical of Croft adjacent from the same dates in there too.

I believe the 1997 is a very solid vintage for Taylor. Like Andy mentioned, the 2000 and 2003 are really superb and a slightly higher level, but we're talking just a couple of points and I would be thrilled to drink a '97 Taylor (especially in 20 years) on any given night. However, the 1994 as Andy quickly alluded too ... is "other worldly" and one of the greatest young VPs you'll ever taste. EXPLOSIVE as in TNT, is the best way to describe it. For those who enjoy young Ports there is no denying how crazy this one is when from pristine bottles. It will be a rock star that is akin to any of the greatest old Taylor's I've ever experienced ... and there are quite a few of them.

I have my own favorite, from a vintage that I've not mentioned in any of my posts in this thread. But I'll wait until everyone else has had their opportunity to report their's first.

[David Spriggs]

I've had every Taylor from 1970 - 2003 (unfortuantely nothing older). My favorite is the 1994. It probably the greatest young port I've ever tasted. It's aging at a glacial speed. I would fully expect it to be totally alive 100 years from vintage... amazing stuff. The 1992 is also extremely good, but a little over-hyped.
-Dave-

[Scott Anaya]

I don't have much experience with many older Taylor VP's. The 1945 was one of my very first older VP's and it knocked my socks off and my ass never did quite catch up to me the rest of that night as that baby opened my eyes to the wide-world of Port. I never knew back then what happened to Port as it aged. I learned BIG time that night in NYC.

I forever logged that '45 Taylor Port in my memory and I so hope I can exacly remember the 1945 30 years from now and compare it to the 1992 AND 1994 when they get some age on them. At the moment, I give the edge to 1992 as my favorite cuase i think it has immense potential even though the '94 has the edge when young. I guess I'll need to have '94 vs. '92 taste offs every 5 years over the next 50 to determine my winner! of course that means i better secure another case of each!

[Todd Pettinger]

Todd,

May I ask why you chose 1970 over the 1963 and 1966? What about it did you like better?

To be honest, I chose the 1970 because of the pure opulence of the Port. It was absolutely sublime. I found the '63 (which was ex-cellars; deVines ordered it from the Taylor Library Collection and they were assured of provenance, probably why they were selling the bottles for $850!!!) to be a bit less powerful than I expected. It did appear to have quite a bit more age, as if it was approaching that period where it would start turning tawny, but perhaps that is the natural progression of VP. Having so little experience with old Vintages, I really can't say I have had the opportunity to try an awful lot of them, and so perhaps my tastes lead me to a more powerful VP with a bit more grip, strength, fruit and length. All of these things I found in the '70 and not as much in the '63 or '66. Don't get me wrong - both of those were great experiences.

Perhaps that is just the way my tastes lean? Only way to find out it to try more old VP. Compare with several younger, stronger Vintages and see which I prefer.

The one I still really want to try is the '77. I haven't had it yet. I want it. Pretty hard to open the only bottle I have when it was meant for my wife's b-day present! Hopefully she'll let me sample some

[Roy Hersh]

You need to free up some time and come down here Todd. I'd be happy to open a '77 Taylor and '52 Dalva as I know those are the two you are dying to try. I am sure they wouldn't be the only bottles that get opened in your presence.

Roy

[John Owlett]

Another vote for 1948.

Although in general I have a half-educated preference for Dow and especially for Fonseca over Taylor, I still have distant memories of the way that 1948 Taylor overwhelmed me at a formal dinner in Oxford ... when the wine was less than 30 years old.

Later,

Dr Owl

----------------------------
John Owlett, Southampton, UK

[Roy Hersh]

Dr. Owl,

It is very nice to have you back in our midst. We look forward to having you drop by more often. Thanks for the vote of confidence for the T'48, which is a stunning VP to say the least. When "on" it is really tough to beat.

[Roy Hersh]

I have a lot of true loves with Taylor. 1927 when it is on top of its game, does it for me, but I've only had it four or five times. On the other side of the coin is the 1994, which I wouldn't blame anybody for selecting. One of the greatest young Ports I've ever tried and as close as any Port could possibly get to the 1994 Quinta do Noval Nacional. Sure the even younger ones from the early part of this decade are wonderful, but I don't see either beating out the 1994 of the new generation, since David took over.

Obviously I am a fan of the 1970 Taylor and you're all sick of hearing me yap about that one. :help: If any of you have seen my list of 1977 VPs in order of preference, (after Alex B. put his top VPs from that vintage there) I'll save you the search and tell you my #1 from '77 is Taylor. Yet, as amazing as that VP is for my sweet spot in Port, the duo of '63 and '66 are pretty darn close to that one.

That leaves the two GREATEST back-to-back generally declared vintages of Taylor, one of which is my all time favorite. The 1945 and 1948 respectively are stunning Ports and are at the apex of what Taylor can achieve with the vintages like 1945 = the dexterity of a Maserati MC12 and the 1948 which posseess the power of a Bugatti Veyron. I've given this a lot of thought and have only had a handful from each vintage. It is a really tough call because stylistically, I find them quite different.

However, after enforcing the rule that there can only be one favorite, I'll have to look at which I preferred in the lastest of three side-by-side comparisons overall and the nod would go to the 99 point 1948 which beat out the exalted and very close 2nd place finisher at 98 points. But I'm not going on points alone, or the 1994 would certainly be in the mix. The 1948 Taylor sits right beside the 1931 Quinta do Noval, 1945 Croft, 1927 Niepoort and 1963 Nacional as the greatest older Vintage Ports I've ever put in my mouth.