2001 Taylor Fladgate LBV Port

[Todd Pettinger]

After drinking the two ruby/special reserve ports for this month's VT and coming up extremely disappointed on the second, I needed something that I hoped would be a lot better, without stepping all the way up to a VP.

Taylor Fladgate Late Bottled Vintage – 2001
Bottled in 2006. My last bottle of this was unimpressive and did not receive any TN or even a thought of a repeat visit. Forgetting that experience, I bought a bottle today to try and am happy to report this one is much better.

Filtered, so I didn’t bother decanting. Straight from the bottle this has a silky mouthfeel and a rich nose to it. Black cherries are a bit muted but present. A small amount of VA present in the nose. Palate includes a well integrated alcohol, right off the get-go that in fact is almost surprising and if I were rating this wine, would earn it at least one point higher simply for that fact. Black cherries, blackberries, decent tannic structure. This may not be designed for laying down for any considerable amount of time, but is of sufficient strength and character that if it was, I suspect it would hold its own. (5 years perhaps?)

+4 hours
Still showing splendidly. The dark cherry flavours are coming to the forefront, dominating the palate, which is rich and smooth for an LBV. Still a stiff backbone of tannins, but does not distract anything from the main palate. Not overly sweet either, which is a good thing.

+25 hours
Still showing very nicely although a tad hot in the finish. Not a big deal, just a bit less integrated alcohol than the previous night. It is the type of spirity-heat that once the first glass is done, is not noticed in subsequent glasses. Still very impressive for a Taylor LBV and showing very well indeed. Almost to the point where I am impressed enough go buy a case of this for daily drinking purposes. :)

Todd