1996 Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas Vintage Port

[J. Ali Harlow]

My father opened a bottle of this tonight. No decanting at all, just open and pour so it will not have been at all a fair taste but I was still a little disappointed. Full of tannins and alcohol and not much else to my uneducated palette. I've got a couple of these which were bought for me (I only normally buy to drink having no space for a cellar). I hope it's going to be worth storing them for 5 years!

[Alan C.]

J.

Have you any left from that bottle? I would be fascinated to see if there has been significant development over 24 hours. Many Ports are to firey and troublesome when first opened, thats why it's generally recommended to decant for a few hours.

Although many on this Forum like their Port of all ages, you may be one of the unfortunates, like me, that only really like it when its fully mature. You may find a different drink in another decade. It's just a nuisance having to wait! :)

Alan

[Andy Velebil]

J.

Welcome to the forum, its great to have you here. This is a great group of people who love to share their knowledge with others. So if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Our unofficial motto is "there is no such thing as a dumb question." Now, on to your question....

Alan is on the mark that many Ports, especially young ones, are quite fiery when first opened. Even older Vintage Ports typically need several hours of decanting to show their best. Young ones, such as the one you had, often times need up to 12+ hours of decanting to start showing well.

The Quinta de Vargellas bottlings are a Single Quinta Vintage Port (SQVP). Which means only the grapes from the Vargellas vineyard are used. Where a Vintage Port (VP) is typically a blend of grapes from several sources. In my experience, Vargellas SQVP's tend to show a touch more heat on them than the regular Taylor's VP's, just part of the Vargellas terroir I guess.

The last time I had the 1996 Vargellas was last year and my notes state "This one needs more cellar time." So put those other bottles away for 5 or 10 more years, give it a good solid decant and I know you'll change your mind on this one.

[J. Ali Harlow]

Yes, sorry I should have said. I'd have decanted this one at least 12 hours, but it would be a little rude to tell my father how to serve his port! Actually even a double decant would have helped. I wasn't at all surprised that it was full of tannins or that it was so raw, but I was a little worried that I couldn't taste anything behind all that. Hopefully that's just my poor palette and they are there to come through in a few years.

Thanks for the comments.

[Roy Hersh]

This has been a Taylor-centric weekend for me. On Friday night we did a vertical with 9 Taylor vintage Ports and two Vargellas VPs. The 1987 and 1991 Vargellas were both very fine bottlings and the younger of the two needed considerably more time in decanter. The 20 year old '87 was showing beautifully with 8 hours of decanting, really right on the mark.

The 1996 you mention is not a great Vargellas and the vintage itself has only shown a few producers that really made truly wonderful wines. Two that come to the fore are the Vesuvio and Nacional, both of which are fantastic considering the next closest VP to show nearly as well. I hope that when you reapproach your bottle the extra time it has enjoyed will prove favorable.

Welcome to the FTLOP and we hope you will enjoy getting to learn more about Port while sharing with other like minded and passionate Port lovers!

[J. Ali Harlow]

Thanks for your thoughts, Roy.