For The Love Of Port

I thought I might try to post a few of my notes on the forum (when they are a bit longer than my customary couple of words!).

Sample glass at the time of decanting was quite unpleasant. Far too much alcohol. All other flavours obscured. Improved a bit after an hour or so. Greatly improved after about a day. Then, on the nose, lots of blackberries. In the mouth, a little disappointing: a bit musty in the back of the throat, but the fruit was still there. Didn’t get the chance to finish the bottle until yesterday, about 5 days after opening. The musty sensation had almost entirely disappeared but the fruit remained, with the sugar tasting ever so slightly treacly. My general view is that Taylor’s SQVP are best about 3 days after decanting. This is probably a bit on the long side for many of you, but that seems to have worked well on previous bottles, and I think it would on this one (5 days was certainly past its best).

Around here, the Terra Feita generally goes only for a couple of pounds less than the Vargellas which, judging by the frequency of tasting notes, makes it pretty unpopular. However, I’d certainly pick up another bottle of this.

-Jacob

Jacob,

Nice job. I think that Quinta de Vargellas gets so much ink that folks who drink a good amount of Port, get to know it and it is a standout place to visit in the Douro too, with lots of history. Terra Feita on the other hand does not have an equivalent of "Vinha Velha" bottlings and so, it remains just another basic SQVP with very little notoriety. There is plenty of Terra Feita that goes into the makeup of a Taylor Vintage Port these days. I would imagine that the grapes from that property are also used in various other Ports too, but it is still one of the Quintas I have yet to visit. I have had a smattering of VPs from this property and almost all have been from the past 15 years.

Roy Hersh wrote: I think that Quinta de Vargellas gets so much ink that folks who drink a good amount of Port, get to know it and it is a standout place to visit in the Douro too, with lots of history. Terra Feita on the other hand does not have an equivalent of "Vinha Velha" bottlings and so, it remains just another basic SQVP with very little notoriety. There is plenty of Terra Feita that goes into the makeup of a Taylor Vintage Port these days. I would imagine that the grapes from that property are also used in various other Ports too, but it is still one of the Quintas I have yet to visit. I have had a smattering of VPs from this property and almost all have been from the past 15 years.

Thanks! That makes a lot of sense. With regards to the number of SQVPs, according to the list from Taylor’s, they’ve only released 9 SQVPs from Terra Feita, with the first being in 1982, which would correspond with your thoughts on their age. Intriguingly, it does say they have produced it for private consumption since the early 1900s, so I suppose there might be some older ones locked away!

-Jacob