Taylors Late Bottled Vintage Port | 75 cl

Product Information

It’s safe enough to drink, but if you’re sensitive to the smell, it can be offputting, and impacts the flavour of the drink. Taylor’s has now capitalised on the momentous occasion by launching a limited-edition gift box featuring its 2003 Vintage Port. 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.

Late bottled vintage ports are of even higher initial quality, and are matured in wood for four or five years. Taylor's three iconic port wine estates, located in the best parts of the Douro Valley - Terra Feita, Vargellas and Junco - encompass a huge area and various different styles of wine. Each estate is distinct from the others, with different strengths and styles to complement each other brilliantly. It’s partly because of this that the House is rated so highly, often known as the one to beat when it comes to vintage ports; with their iconic blends of the very best from each estate, a bottle of Taylor’s vintage port is always unique and invariably among the best available. It is for this reason that theirs are some of the most sought-after and expensive ports in the world. You might think port lasts forever after it’s been opened, but sadly that’s not the case, though it differs by type.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. Taylor's Port has a three hundred year tradition focusing solely on its port wines, finding the very best methods of production and refining them to produce some of the best examples in existence. Geosmin is a chemical compound that can give wines and ports an unpleasant, earthy odour, usually the result of using grape crops having been affected by rot. History has been rather unfair to the 1966s which, until relatively recently, were completely overshadowed by the 1963s. Although quality is not as uniformly high as 1963, 1966 hits many of the same high spots with wines combining concentration, structure and intensity. Although bottlings vary (a consequence of bottling in both Vila Nova de Gaia and in the UK) Dow and Fonseca are stupendous. Best wines Read on for our full guide including what the difference is between red and tawny ports, decoding the label, and the best way to serve it for maximum flavour.

Related articles Port vintage guide: 2000-2022 Know your Port styles Seasonal Ports: 15 to try this winter Video: How to decant vintage Port

Producers/Shippers

Port is a Portuguese fortified wine often enjoyed alongside a cheese board, after a big meal or simply as a relaxing evening treat.

An exceptionally wet winter prepared the vines for a hot, dry summer. In August, temperatures of 45C were recorded twice at Pinhao in the heart of the Cima Corgo but with so much ground water, the grapes did not dry up or raisin-ise. Rain finally arrived during the harvest, but with yields well-down on average the crop came to no harm. The fermentations were helped by cool weather and musts registered higher-than-average readings with excellent colour. It was clear at the end of the harvest that a fine vintage was in prospect. The 2003 vintage was blessed with warm weather at the end of May, supporting a successful flowering, followed by intense summer heat in early August. Red ports tend to spend fewer years ageing in wooden barrels or vats, which should give them a fruitier, more tannic profile and a vivid red-purple colour.

Quality Guaranteed

We asked Charles for his tips on choosing the best bottle of port, and explain what we found when we tested supermarket ports. A triple gift box of outstanding Taylors port with Tasting notes and a personal message. Includes free postage. Early tastings tended to play down the overall quality of the 1970s and it is only several decades on that these tight-knit, beautifully balanced wines have come to be judged in their true light. Although not as fine overall as the undeniably impressive 1963s, there are wines from 1970 that deserve to be ranked among the great vintage Ports of the 20th century. This being the last vintage to be bottled both in Portugal and in the UK, there is inevitably a certain amount of variation from bottle to bottle. All subsequent vintages were bottled in Vila Nova de Gaia. Best wines