comments requested on 2000 Taylor Fladgate VP

[Ray Barnes]

I tried the search engine and could not seem to find specific comments on this wine - but I am fighting a cold so that is likely to be entirely my fault. Would those who have tried it please let me know what they thought. The mainstream wine expert sources (WA, WS and Stephen Tanzer) were unaminous in their very high praise of this effort, but I would like to know what the real port experts here think.

Thanks in advance.

[Ray Barnes]

I have found and read Roy's very complimentary tasting note - but would still like further input from the other members - or if Roy has additional comments too. :)

[Andy Velebil]

Ray,
Moved this to the Port Section so it will get more views and where it belongs. I love this VP, but WAY young at the moment. Buy some, try one now (it probably is a bit closed up though),lay the rest down, forget about them, and "find" them about 20+ years from now.

[Ray Barnes]

Thank you Andy for redirecting the thread and your comments as well. :)

[Ray Barnes]

After further consideration I am withdrawing my request to Roy for additional comments here on that wine. Since his tasting notes are for the benefit of subscribers, I feel it would be unfair to ask him to comment further on one of them in a non-subscription-only area. I would very much welcome though, entirely at his discretion, his further insights privately.

[Roy Hersh]

Don't be silly, I am fine with commenting on a specific request like this. I have had this from cask and pre-release bottlings to well over a dozen bottles since then. I am not sure how many I have written about. When first trying it (from early cask sample) it was not as great as what I perceived in the Niepoort, Fonseca and Vesuvio, yet certainly in the top 8 of the vintage.

Since that time, it has grown on me and I have really taken a fancy to it. I would not drink it now unless you had multiple bottles, the rest which could be cellared for a more appropriate time. However, it will be a fabulous VP today with about 12 hours or more of decant time. I don't know anybody who has not been really impressed by this bottling.

[Ray Barnes]

Thanks for your kind input Roy. I'm more sensitive than most to issues of protocol and confidentiality, and will keep this in mind for future reference. This seems like a wonderful wine.

[Roy Hersh]

There is only one taboo and that is paraphrasing or copying my TN here. Asking impressions is always great because you will wind up with more impressions than must mine, which can be invaluable in providing perspective from a number of savvy palates who will help you to compare/contrast perceptions.

[Todd Pettinger]

Ray,

I had this at a Taylor Vertical Roy led in Edmonton a year ago (We went back from 2003 to 1963 missing only the '66 and '94 vintages - although we hit the '94 Taylor this year in our 1994 Horizonal!)

The 2000 Taylor is absolutely massive in fruit and tannins. It had painful-pucker - to the point where many left their small samples behind at the end of the night. Although closed at the moment, you could tell there was a HUGE structure there and it will be a very big Port, however as Andy, Roy and others may have said - it really needs another two decades before I would even consider opening one.

If you can find a half, I would consider opening that instead of slaying a full bottle - there will be a bit more aging on the half bottle and you're not "wasting" a full bottle that you will likely want to cellar for some time. I would add that I would probably decant for a minimum of 12 hours, but IIRC (and I don't have my TN handy at the moment so I'm working on a fuzzy, 1 year-old memory) but when I tried it last year, they had decanted it for nearly 11 hours and it was still tight and closed. I would be prepared to try some at 12 hrs and then again at 14, 16, 18 hrs, etc. I would predict that it will be truly drinkable after a full 24 hrs. (Just a guess.)

Todd

[Ray Barnes]

Thanks for the update Todd. I am in the running for getting one or two bottles of it, and by the looks of it, will have to put it away for quite awhile, but it will be worth the wait. I believe Robert Parker of all people described it as being like Chateau Latour on steroids. Since I don't ever expect to purchase the Latour Grand Vin, this will have to do. Sounds like a great wine indeed.

[Moses Botbol]

I would never open one of my own ports that young, but if someone else wants to... that's cool. Haven't been able to get around drinking new vintage port. Certainly it is helpful to understand the aging potential, but seeing how the vast majority of post-war vintages have been good... I feel there's little to worry about; at least in any vintage making the 20 year mark.

[Mahmoud Ali]

Moses, I'm with you.

I guess if we had cases of the stuff we could open the odd bottle of young vintage port. In the meantime try putting away some LBVs. Almost any decent LBV, including the unfiltered Taylor LBV, will last at least 10 years and afford you a more mature everyday port drinking experience.

I had a couple of 1995 Graham's LBVs that I thought was simple and light when I first bought them (on sale for C$14/15). Pulled one out last month and found, to my complete surprise, that it had gained weight. The LBV seemed more fleshy, it appeared young, firm, and tannic, with more development ahead. I can't explain what happened but I do know that the bottle I had when I first bought it was so light-bodied that I almost felt like returning my remaining two bottles. Glad i didn't.

Every bottle of port, like wine I suppose, is a magical experience, affected by time in bottle and the decant (perhaps even more important than with wine).

Cheers.......Mahmoud