1948 Taylor Vintage Port
Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 5:13 pm
Decant: 1 day - An unknown bottle, with a mid-shoulder fill that appeared to have leaked in the past and been sealed with a soft black wax or pitch-like compound many years ago. The apppearance of the bottle was of a port from the 50s or 60s. Glowing red colour, 60% opaque, looking rich and mature. Rosemary and antiseptic dominate the nose, strong and off-putting. Dry, slightly harsh, entry and with a very dry mid-palate - little obvious immediate fruit and lots of rosemary. Hints of sweetness on the aftertaste and then a very, very long finish of red licorice. This improved slightly in the glass but was clearly a compromised bottle. Guesses were F60 (RAYC), T63 (DRT), D63 (AHB). The cork was removed from the bottle and clearly branded.
A glass of this was kindly saved for me by DRT and was drunk the following night and was unrecognisable from the wine almost finished at TSE. With 24 hours in the decanter, this had lost all the strange smell and had become a deep flavoured, sweet bruiser of a port with intense flavours and a very long finish. Based on the port drunk after 24 hours decanting, I would (a) recommend a long decant for T48 and (b) push the score up to 92/100. What a fabulous glass of port that was after all. 92 points
A glass of this was kindly saved for me by DRT and was drunk the following night and was unrecognisable from the wine almost finished at TSE. With 24 hours in the decanter, this had lost all the strange smell and had become a deep flavoured, sweet bruiser of a port with intense flavours and a very long finish. Based on the port drunk after 24 hours decanting, I would (a) recommend a long decant for T48 and (b) push the score up to 92/100. What a fabulous glass of port that was after all. 92 points