For The Love Of Port

From a flight of repeat performances tasted at Roy's house November 15-18, 2009. We're going to do the reveal before day 4, so I'm posting final scores today so that they're not affected by label bias.

2007 Fonseca Vintage Port
2007 Croft Vintage Port
2007 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port

2007 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port

Day 1
Color: A pretty normal purple with a wider (1/4") fade than most, but it's more gradual and even also.
Nose: Densely purple with an earthy/dusty note. Blackberry, cassis, and possibly black currant.
Palate: Rich, sweet, and fruity. Faintly spicy or possibly just a tiny bit hot. Good tannins, decent acidity.
Finish: Blueberry, tries for chocolate, some tannins, and a buttery smooth caramel-like note. Best of the 3. Finishes with green apples.

Initial score: 90-93 points.

Day 2
Color: no change
Nose: Alcohol. Black and purple fruits. Graphite.
Palate: Tannins and acidity are both good. Medium sweet with a medium full body. Blackberries and black currants.
Finish: Sweet and purple, some heat, and tannic grip. Very long. Finishes once again with green apples.

Intermediate score: 91-94 points.

Day 3
Color: Very slightly bluer and denser.
Nose: Grapey? Still heavy on the alcohol. Still some graphite or minerals. Some blueberries and xanthan gum hiding behind the alcohol.
Palate: Dark berries. Sweet and full bodied. Good tannins but only decent acidity. Round, full blackberry and blueberry.
Finish: Pleasant warmth and smooth tannins. Long-ish, but not truely long. Green apples.

Pre-reveal final score: 93-95 points. This is becoming something extraordinary, but there's still something holding it back. It doesn't feel completely settled yet to me. Day 4 will decide whether it loses the 93 or the 95 in its score range.

Day 4
Color: Still retains that slightly-bluer-than-purple color, which gives it depth
Nose: Deep purple notes of blackberry, boysenberry, and cassis. The graphite from previous days has become less precise and is now more of a general impression of minerals. There's still some mint, but it's more pure now. Black pepper and dust show as well. There's a very faint hint of bubble gum, too.
Palate: Rich, medium sweet, full body. Smooth but firm tannins and good acidity point toward a long life. Blackberry and cassis are present but hard to find as the fruits are well blended and very rich. Some black raspberry as well.
Finish: Rich and grippy, but with a faint bitter note that eventually morphs into grape stem. The finish is warm and long.

Post-reveal final score: 94-95 points. An outstanding Port that will last for decades, but I still have to wonder about the release pricing. Why pay top dollar for a 2007 Taylor when I can get a 1985 Fonseca for less? That said, fans of Taylor will not be disappointed in this Port.

Now, compared to the other two TFP VP's, this is one that I very early on said would end up being one of the top wines of the vintage. A must buy for any serious collector IMO.

The Taylor and Fonseca tasted opposite to me for the 07's. The Fonseca showed more power and spice while the Taylor seemed more sweet. I found it odd on the samples (were open for just a few hours). I'd imagine they'd flip flop with more time open.

The Croft was just the best of all worlds and seemed like the must buy for the vintage. Too bad Croft keeps getting more expensive on new releases.

My impression of the 2007 Taylor has gone up since I first tasted it. My earlier scores were in the 90-93 range.

This bottle still doesn't feel completely settled to me, so perhaps in a few years I'll move it up even further. For now it is exceptional and drinking very nicely, but I think you'd want to lay this one down and keep your hands off of it. There are other equally good Ports out there to drink now... the Taylor needs time to reach its peak drinking pleasure.

Glenn E. wrote:Blackberry, cassis, and possibly black currant.

I'll suggest that if there was cassis, there was black currant, not just "possibly."
Or were you referring to the liqueur? Having lived in a country that used the word cassis for black currant, I just think of them as being synomous.

Eric Menchen wrote:

Glenn E. wrote:Blackberry, cassis, and possibly black currant.

I'll suggest that if there was cassis, there was black currant, not just "possibly."
Or were you referring to the liqueur? Having lived in a country that used the word cassis for black currant, I just think of them as being synomous.

To me, cassis is the liquor and/or syrup while black currant is the berry. I (normally) use cassis when the flavor has a sweeter tone and black currant when it is livelier and/or more tart. Of course that's all rather precise for flavors that sometimes barely flash through your brain as you're taking notes, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

I don't see the BIG scores for this VP but it is worthy and certainly the finest of the 3 by TFP. I liked it a lot this go round and have tasted this on 14 different occasions where I took TNs. Crazy.

These are the comments from my fellows on this one: Deep color-dense. Excellent nose with hints of dark berries-pervasive yet mellow tannins-decent finish feels as if it needs to age. Very tasty, absolute joy. "The bottle is too small" was the best quip of the night.

Decanted 24 hours. 18 out of 20.