1965 Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas Vintage Port

[Ben Read]

This was my wine of the night from a "Vargellathon" held in London this week. A line up that consisted of:

1964
1965
1967 (Corney & Barrow bottled, 1969)
1967 (Oporto bottled, 1970)
1972
1978
1982
1987
1991
1996

Having declared the line up, I will mention the fact it started as a plan to compare the two 1967 wines and see what (if any) difference existed. As ever in London, these things run the risk of getting out of hand. Tuesday was not to disappoint! Our "Vargellathon" extended to include a 1985 Morgan, 1991 Churchill and a 2007 cask sample which I will leave others to name if appropriate.

As for the 1967's, they were different but not by much. The C&B bottling showed better earlier, with the Oporto bottling needing a bit more time.

The 1964 mellowed beautifully and was a pleasure ti drink.

My lesson of the night was that Vargellas needs plenty of decanting time and lots of air. All of the wines improved when poured, having been double decanted into their own bottles around 24 hours previously in most cases.

[Roy Hersh]

Ben,

Thanks for the view of the tasting and a belated Happy Birthday! Sounds like a great time at the Vargellas tasting and an article will be in the May FTLOP newsletter on this tasting event. :type:

[Andy Velebil]

Glad to hear you guys had a great time. Was surprised to hear how well the '64 did. Look forward to reading mroe about it.