Decant: 2½ hours - Deep red in colour, the colour of plum cordial. Sweet liquorice nose with raspberry juice and a touch of mint from the spirit but spirit is well integrated. Liquorice into the mouth, sweet but balanced by a nice acidity. Oddly, the wine feels like it should be thicker than it is with the body that it has. The initial mid-palate flavours are of fresh wood - cedar and pine - but then a lovely complexity of plums and raisins comes through. The aftertaste is stunning. A quick burst of tannins then an amazing array of nutmeg, cinnamon and a bite of black pepper all underneath a huge wave of plum and apple jam. This fabulous aftertaste compares with the very best I have ever experienced. Its worth getting a bottle of this if only to experience the aftertaste. That aftertaste goes on all night from just a single sip. Scoring this wine is a pity as it clearly needs more time in the decanter, I suggest a minimum of 5 hours and I believe that it is still years away from its peak. The nose was a little closed and the mouth flavours pleasant but only a little above average....but that aftertaste! On Tom's scale I would put this just about at top quartile and would expect it to be better in 10 years so I will score it 7/8. On a 100 point scale I score this at 91/100.
I came back to this wine the following morning, 12 hours after decanting, and it had improved further from where it had been at the time I took the tasting note. The nose had opened up and the mouth flavours developed further without losing any of the impact of the aftertaste. At this time I would rate the wine 1 point higher at 92/100. The wine was still drinking very well on Thursday evening, 50 hours after opening. 92 points
TN: 1980 Taylor Vintage Port
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