1995 Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas Vintage Port
Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:30 am
Tasting Note from Alex B
How could Alex K forget this wine? Christopher’s second bottle and one which I have tried several times in the recent past and didn’t get the chance to try on this occasion. However, I did take the remains of the bottle home with me and put it in the fridge. On Sunday night two nights after the offline I drank the remains and was very impressed. Black as bootstraps but a nose just overflowing with blackberries. Very structured in the mouth, lots of sweet fruit initially and plenty of tannins showing firmly but gently in the mid palate. A decent aftertaste, with a good range of flavours and lasting a nice time. This will be really good in 10 years. 88/100 or 4/6.
Interesting comment from Roy on the Vargellas '95 who commented that I had scored this relatively low compared to his scores. I gave a relatively low score - 88/100 - as it was pleasant but not great, slightly below average today on Tom's scale. However, I am convinced that it has the fruit and the structure to be much, much better than this. In 10 years I think it will be above average (the 6 on Tom's scoring scale), but this may be pessimistic nor does it reflect whether the wine will continue to improve even after 2017 and maybe reach a 7 or 8. My 88 was based on the pleasure of drinking the Vargellas '95 today. There are a lot of wines that I would prefer to drink today than this, but equally I would be very happy to have a case of these stashed away somewhere cool and dark so that they can mature undisturbed for a decade.
Tasting Note from Stevie K
Again a pleasant surprise. Was this a hard, alcoholic beast just 2 years ago, this VP is coming together beautifully. Very young, obviously, but already delicious to drink now
Text shown in italics was amended after the original tasting note was posted on the Port Forum but has only been changed to keep this version of the note sensible when taken out of the context of the conversation on the offline
How could Alex K forget this wine? Christopher’s second bottle and one which I have tried several times in the recent past and didn’t get the chance to try on this occasion. However, I did take the remains of the bottle home with me and put it in the fridge. On Sunday night two nights after the offline I drank the remains and was very impressed. Black as bootstraps but a nose just overflowing with blackberries. Very structured in the mouth, lots of sweet fruit initially and plenty of tannins showing firmly but gently in the mid palate. A decent aftertaste, with a good range of flavours and lasting a nice time. This will be really good in 10 years. 88/100 or 4/6.
Interesting comment from Roy on the Vargellas '95 who commented that I had scored this relatively low compared to his scores. I gave a relatively low score - 88/100 - as it was pleasant but not great, slightly below average today on Tom's scale. However, I am convinced that it has the fruit and the structure to be much, much better than this. In 10 years I think it will be above average (the 6 on Tom's scoring scale), but this may be pessimistic nor does it reflect whether the wine will continue to improve even after 2017 and maybe reach a 7 or 8. My 88 was based on the pleasure of drinking the Vargellas '95 today. There are a lot of wines that I would prefer to drink today than this, but equally I would be very happy to have a case of these stashed away somewhere cool and dark so that they can mature undisturbed for a decade.
Tasting Note from Stevie K
Again a pleasant surprise. Was this a hard, alcoholic beast just 2 years ago, this VP is coming together beautifully. Very young, obviously, but already delicious to drink now
Text shown in italics was amended after the original tasting note was posted on the Port Forum but has only been changed to keep this version of the note sensible when taken out of the context of the conversation on the offline