Product details
Taylor’s Vintage Port is one of the world’s great iconic wines. Made only in the very finest years – known as ‘declared’ vintages – Vintage Ports are blended from the best produce of the firm’s own estates of Quinta de Vargellas, Quinta de Terra Feita and more recently, Quinta do Junco. After each harvest, the tasting panel selects the finest Port wines from the three properties and these are then left to age for two winters in oak vats. In their second Spring, they are tasted again. If they are judged to be of exceptional quality, the Port wines of the three estates are blended together, Vargellas bringing structure, elegance and complexity to the wine and Terra Feita and Junco body, depth and powerful, concentrated fruit. At this stage it must be decided whether a Vintage Port is to be ‘declared’. For a declaration to be made, the Vintage Port blend must be of outstanding quality: austere in its youth, with tremendous depth of flavour and massive structure, capable of evolving over years, or decades into that quintessence of great Port, a mature Taylor’s Vintage. Historically Taylor’s has only declared about three Vintage years per decade. Taylor’s Vintage Ports are renowned for their massive structure and aromatic power, tempered by a characteristic understatement and restraint. The ultimate collector’s Port wines, Vintage Ports will age for decades in the cellar, slowly developing the elegance and harmony which are the hallmarks of a mature Taylor’s Vintage Port.
Grape Varieties:
Traditional grape varieties
Tasting Notes:
Inky purple black with narrow magenta rim. Classic Taylor nose, with exotic scents of violet and gum cistus set against an impenetrable background of intense dark berry fruit. The 2003 Vintage Port shows a stylish and racy palate, displaying a tight fabric of sinewy tannins and packed with concentrated grapey flavours which intensify through the seemingly endless finish. Like many other great Taylor vintage this wine is an archetype of restrained power, its elegance and breeding concealing massive inner strength and stamina.
Store and Serve Advices:
Should be opened two hours before serving and decanted. Serve between 17º and 18º C. Store the bottle on its side, in a cool, dry and dark place.
Food Pairing:
Vintage Ports are after meal drinks. Take them with cheese like Stilton or Gorgonzola. But you can also incorporate them into a meal, combining for instance a Steak au Poivre with a young Vintage.
Allergens:
Contains sulphites.
Reviews and Awards:
. 98 points in Robert Parker;
. 97 points in Anthony Gismondi;
. 97 points in Wine Enthusiast Magazine;
. 96 points in Wine & Spirits Magazine;
. 95 points in CellarTracker;
. 94 points in Wine Spectator Magazine;
. 93 points in Stephen Tanzer;
. 18 points in Jancis Robinson.
Disclaimer:
The photo shown is a copy of one of the bottles we have available for delivery. Keep in mind that the older the wine, the more likely the bottle will have some external dirt or slightly damaged labels. This does not mean, however, that the wine is not in a condition to be consumed.
The wines from our rarity zone are stored and air-conditioned in the most correct way so that the wine ages correctly in the bottle, but over time, the wine evolves and changes its characteristics.
We recommend that you carefully remove the cork and let the wine air for some time in order to release its natural aromas. Avoid decanting as it can be a very aggressive operation for old wines.
98 points·Taylors Vintage Port 2003
expand_moreThe 2003 Taylor’s has a lovely ripe, primal bouquet of blackberry, raspberry, vanilla and marmalade that shows slightly better delineation than the Fonseca. The palate is medium-bodied with very composed, refined tannins that belie the heat of that summer. There is wonderful focus here and fine tension, the finish offering precise notes of black cherries, mulberry, cloves and white pepper. This is one of the finest Ports of a precocious vintage.