Wine Advocate (98)

Among the most saturated blue/purple/black-colored examples of the vintage, Taylor's 2000 tastes like a young vintage of Chateau Latour on steroids. Aromas of graphite, blackberry liqueur, creme de cassis and smoke jump from the glass. Spectacularly concentrated and enormously endowed, with sweetness allied to ripe tannin, decent acidity, and layer upon layer of fruit and extract, this is the leading candidate for the port of the vintage. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2040.

Wine Enthusiast (97)

Inky purple in color, this youngest Taylor vintage Port boasts a floral, wonderfully open and appealing bouquet, backed by layers of rich fruit. What makes this wine extra special is the seductive texture—somewhere between creamy and syrupy—and ample length. Hold.

Wine Enthusiast (97)

Inky purple in color, this youngest Taylor vintage Port boasts a floral, wonderfully open and appealing bouquet, backed by layers of rich fruit. What makes this wine extra special is the seductive texture—somewhere between creamy and syrupy—and ample length. Hold.

Wine Advocate (94+)

The Taylor’s 2007 is in a rather odd phase at the moment, its sweet, marzipan-tinged bouquet tending to dominate the ripe black fruit. The palate is much more controlled, with very fine tannins, supremely well-judged acidity and a very elegant, composed finish that has more purity and poise than the Fonseca. I would give bottles another decade to allow the aromatics to calm down. Tasted May 2013.

Wine Advocate (97)

Now with a couple years in bottle, I am erring to the Taylor’s over the Fonseca (although these can always change!) The Taylor’s show more delineation and refinement with pure black currant, cassis, pencil box, hints of marzipan and a hint of dark chocolate. The palate is full-bodied and sumptuous with super-fine tannins, very pure blackberry and boysenberry notes interlaced with cedar, dried fig and a touch of black pepper on the beautifully refined finish. Excellent.

Wine Advocate (97)

Now with a couple years in bottle, I am erring to the Taylor’s over the Fonseca (although these can always change!) The Taylor’s show more delineation and refinement with pure black currant, cassis, pencil box, hints of marzipan and a hint of dark chocolate. The palate is full-bodied and sumptuous with super-fine tannins, very pure blackberry and boysenberry notes interlaced with cedar, dried fig and a touch of black pepper on the beautifully refined finish. Excellent.

Jancis Robinson (19.5)

This wine was placed immediately after the super-opulent Fonseca in the BFT tasting which may have been a mistake. This is restrained. Well mannered, discreet, keeps its powder very dry. But on the palate it opens out in the most superb, burgundian peacock's tail sort of way. Another wonderful wine from The Fladgate Partnership. Utterly different from the Fonseca. Upright and straight backed. But irreproachable. My gums are virtually impervious to sugar and acid but this wine set them vibrating a bit. Dried prunes ground up with rocks.

James Suckling (100)

OMG. This is really the most amazing young Taylor's I have ever tasted. Full-bodied and lightly sweet with super power and intensity. So racy and focused. Yet this has such muscle and intensity. Needs at least eight years to show you everything it has to offer. Drink in 2025.

James Suckling (100)

OMG. This is really the most amazing young Taylor's I have ever tasted. Full-bodied and lightly sweet with super power and intensity. So racy and focused. Yet this has such muscle and intensity. Needs at least eight years to show you everything it has to offer. Drink in 2025.

Richard Mayson (19.5)

A ‘classic’ declaration from Taylor’s: a blend from Quinta de Vargellas in the Douro Superior (‘the backbone’) and Quintas Terra Feita and Junco in the Pinhão Valley. Deep, scented (violets and esteva or gum cistus), minty too, restrained but already quite expressive; lovely pure mint and berry fruit backed by fine grained tannins which rise in the mouth to a long, level, linear finish. Not especially big but beautifully poised and very elegant. This has all the qualities of a long term keeper. It is already magnificent and will be even more so in 15 to 20 years.

Wine Advocate (95)

The NV Very Old Tawny Port Kingsman Edition is a field blend bottled in 2020 with an average time in barrel of 90 years. It has 206 grams of residual sugar and a bar-top cork. As always, old Tawnies are simply a joy to just smell, but that's nowhere near the best part here. Unctuous in texture and very concentrated, this still manages to be rather elegant, with some brightness and lift to the fruit to go with the power on the finish. It does show its age a bit on opening, but it held perfectly for the relatively short time I had with it. The finish is more dark molasses than caramel, as befits a very old and aging Tawny. The key here, though, is the combination of brightness with the unctuous and almost creamy texture. The two make an enchanting combination that leads to a long, lively and tasty finish. This is pretty fine, and you would expect nothing less from a special presentation by Taylor's. The winery's website mentions a touch of British humor regarding this bottling (and its connection to the Kingsman film series), but there's nothing funny about this. It's pretty serious stuff. The end-date drinking window is just a suggestion, and usually an afterthought, as few bother to hold old Tawnies very long. It doesn't need aging and they tend to last a very long time, barring cork problems. This comes in a special presentation, as these rare Tawnies usually do. The package includes "a bespoke crystal decanter with gold detailing and a luxurious presentation box." There were just 700 bottles produced.