1997 Taylor Vintage Port

[Richard Henderson]

Okay, I decided to try a port that I think is too young but at least over 10 years old

Upon opening , it was closed , hot and not much fruit. I decanted without a stopper and 20 hours later, it is showing those wonderful aromas of fresh baked huckleberry ( sort of a cross between red currants and blueberries) with the cinnamon and buttery pastry dough.

Still a little hot but just a wonderful port. Great lingering finish after a big concentrated mouthfeel, full middle.

40 hours after opening it is still full bodied and holding up quite well.

This is not quite the 92 but it is truly a great port with a century to go.

A young solid 98 points. I did try it in one of those port sippers.

[Andy Velebil]

A solid bottle for sure and one thats probably still in the shut down faze. As the last bottle I had of this wasn't showing very well at all. Of course it wasn't decanted for 20+ hours like yours and never got the chance to come round.

[Richard Henderson]

It was a bit unusual to decant 20 hours but it was needed for this port. I have just opened a Dow 94 which is also very strong and dense on opening . It will get 18-20 hours as well.

[Alan Gardner]

This note is extracted from a Blind Tasting on 29 May 2009 of 6 wines. The tasting compared Taylor, Fonseca Warre’s 1994 and 1997 vintages. All came from the same cellar and were decanted about 2 hours before the tasting. The tasting notes are mine, but there was also a group ranking (9 tasters).
No specific notes on colour, as all were similar – deep ruby (although the 94’s were slightly deeper in colour than the 97’s).

1997 Taylor (poured as wine E)
Most aromatic/flowery aromas of group – Lavender?
Good acisity, but a little hollow in the centre. Fruit comes back at finish, but flavours not (yet?) integrated.
My ranking 4th. Group ranking tied for 1st (3-way tie).