Winemaker Notes
Taylor Fladgate possesses valuable reserves of very old Port lying in cask in its historic cellars in Oporto. These include a few unique gems, each representing a tiny volume of wine. On very rare occasions, at the discretion of the family, such wines have been launched as Limited Editions. It is now the turn of this priceless wine, in its 125th year of aging in hand crafted oak casks, to be made available on strict allocation to selected customers around the world. Produced in the magnificent vintage of 1896, one of the finest of the 19th century, it was born at the start of an era of renewal in the Harvest valley vineyards after the terrible scourge of Phylloxera.
The magical quality of this wine is unique, hard to compare even with the few other wines of similar age that have survived to the present day. Its depth and density is astonishing, even taking into account the wine’s concentration over a century and a quarter of aging in wood.
At first, a rich and seductive redolence of black coffee and liquorice takes center stage but a host of other scents and nuances soon emerge, creating an intricate display of complex aromas. Notes of sawn cedarwood blend with hints of dried rose petal, fennel and eucalyptus. Notes of black pepper and vanilla add a warm spicy dimension. On the palate the wine is dense, round and velvety with impressive volume and concentration, the sweetness is balanced by a fresh acidity. Mellow flavors of coffee and butterscotch combine with vibrant notes of orange peel and citrus. The finish is endless, the dense mellow flavors remaining on the palate long after the wine has been tasted.
About the bottle: Each decanter designed and produced exclusively for Taylor Fladgate 1896 Single Harvest Port was individually hand blown and finished by skilled craftmen, making it unique.
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F. To learn more, see our full Port Wine Guide
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.