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This is a 'single quinta' wine, made in exactly the same way as Taylor's Vintage Port, but using only the grapes from this individual property, trodden on the estate. Only small quantities are made, and only in very good years. Many experts believe Taylor's Single Quinta Vintage Ports to be better than other companies' declared years. The name of Taylor's is more of an assurance than the year.
Taylor's has owned the beautiful estate of Vargellas for over a century, and it is acknowledged as one of the great vineyards of the world. It has the highest percentage of old vines of any quinta in the Douro, 60% being over 75 years old. Quinta de Vargellas Vintage Ports are ready to drink from ten years, but will go on developing for another twenty years or so - almost as long as Taylor's declared Vintages.
Quinta de Vargellas vintage ports are one of a small handful of single estate ports to have achieved the stature and reputation of the great 'declared' vintages and to be traded regularly at auction. Still as prized today as they were over 180 years ago, these distinctive wines are one of the longest established of all single estate ports.
Wine Enthusiast
At almost 10 years of age, this mammoth effort is just starting to budge along the path to maturity. The nose is rich with scents of baking spices; the palate shows plenty of plum and blackberry fruit, but is more about earth, spice and raw power. This tremendously deep, powerful and structured wine should be even better by 2010, with a plateau of maturity that should extend out to 2040 or beyond.
Score: 97.
—Joe Czerwinski,
December
01,
2004.
Wine Spectator
A big, voluptuous wine--decadence in a bottle. Sports a brilliant magenta, purple color and intense aromas of plums and berries with hints of flowers. It's medium- to full-bodied, with a chunky, velvety-tannin mouthfeel and a long aftertaste of chocolate and fruit. Lovely. Best after 2008. 9,000 cases made.
Score: 92.
—James Suckling,
April
30,
1998.
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