1970 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port

[Glenn E.]

Purchased from Brentwood Wine and opened on New Year's Eve 2009. Oporto bottled. Removed from wine refrigerator and decanted at 2:30 pm to be ready for drinking/toasting starting at 10:30 pm.

Initial TN at 3:00 pm with the Port not quite up to room temperature.

1970 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port

Color: A deep and rich garnet that fades through an orange-ish pink to clear at the rim. Very fine sediment floating throughout due to decanting.
Nose: Strawberries filled the room while decanting and are the primary note in the glass. Some lime and raspberry, too. A light dusty mineral shows up after the fruits have been inhaled. Alcohol is noticable only if you really look for it.
Palate: The first impression is rich and meaty, almost like a juicy pepper-crusted steak. The fruits then show up but are difficult to distinguish. Warmth builds evenly in your mouth, and the trademark Taylor spiciness is very present in this bottle. Tannins and acidity are both still very strong for a 40-yr old Port, but they're not going to knock your socks off. The body weight seems light at this point, but will probably build with air time.
Finish: Tannins and faint warmth lead off. The fruit currently seems suppressed, probably due to the Port still being slightly chilled. There's a very faint deep sugary note... not exactly molasses, but more like cotton candy taken down a couple of octaves. The finish is somewhat weak, but very long. The tail is Granny Smith apples and some light grape skin.

Additional notes at D+7 hours

The color didn't change much, though the fine sediment did settle out as expected leaving the Port brilliantly clear. The mineral note on the nose changed a bit and could almost be called black pepper, though that seems too earthy. It's not Christmas Spices either, because that sounds too sweet. It's something in between those two.

The palate smoothed out a bit and gained a little bit of weight. Not much - I'd still call it a light or medium-light body weight - but enough to help the overall feel gain presence. The tannins mellowed but also gained presence, which seems contradictory to me but nevertheless accurately sums up the change. I'll go ahead and call the peppery nose note Christmas spice on the palate, but again it is darker and deeper than what that term brings to mind. It's very subtle and rich.

The finish probably changed the most as the fruits now stand out sufficiently to last a good 30-40 seconds. The length is incredible - I had to pick up a friend at the airport and I enjoyed the finish for almost the entire drive, which is 30-40 minutes. Truly amazing length.

Score: 95 points. With a little more body weight I might have given it another point. Either way it was an outstanding bottle to drink on New Year's Eve!

Sadly, the bottle didn't last until midnight so I had to open a Noval 40-yr old also.

[Roy Hersh]

I am glad you enjoyed this but it sounds strange that this did not flesh out to more than light-medium weight. The finish is always a benchmark on the T70 and one I always enjoy. How many of you were consuming this bottle?

[Glenn E.]

I am glad you enjoyed this but it sounds strange that this did not flesh out to more than light-medium weight. The finish is always a benchmark on the T70 and one I always enjoy. How many of you were consuming this bottle?

I'm not completely sure.

Let's see... I know of at least two people who had one glass each and one other person who had a Port glass and probably a couple of refills. Then there's me... and I probably had 3-4 Port glasses. That's probably it, though, as most of the people at the party aren't Port drinkers. The guy who had a couple of refills might be a new convert, though, as he said he'd never had a Port that was that good before and so guessed that he'd probably been drinking the wrong stuff. Well... duh!

When we ran out of the T70 I opened a Noval 40-yr old so that the potential convert could try a good tawny, too. I asked him which one he liked better and he said the T70. Hehe... he's doomed.

As far as the body weight goes... I don't think the bottle had quite enough time in the decanter. I had planned to give it 8+ hours by decanting at 2:30 and then saving it until 10:30 or so to start drinking, but people noticed it on the counter in the decanter and wanted to try it. Who was I to say no?