An excellent late bottled vintage (or, in industry speak, LBV) port wine from Taylor’s, one of the giants of port-making.

Taylor’s are credited with having created the Late Bottled Vintage style. This is port that is identified as being of high enough quality to be bottled as a single vintage, but which has been allowed to age longer in the barrel, producing a wine of greater depth and complexity. Many producers now offer an Late Bottled Vintage bottling, but Taylor’s continues to lead the industry.

This 2014 bottling is an outstanding example of the style: produced from a reserve of full bodied reds, produced from grapes grown on the Taylor vineyards, and from other high quality vines in the Cima Corgo and Douro Superior regions. 2014 was a good year: a cool start to the summer meant there was plentiful water in the soil, whilst a hotter September ensured the grapes were perfectly ripe by the time of harvest.

The final result is a vivid ruby port which offers up notes of rich fruit of the forest, jammy blackcurrants, red grapes, cherries, blackberries, raspberry, apricots, slight mint, cedarwood, oak, vanilla and brown sugar.

An excellent pairing for blue cheese or dark chocolate, this is a perfect after dinner drink – best served very slightly chilled, at cellar temperature.

• Distillery / brand
  Taylor's
• Country
  Portugal
• Distillation date
  2014
• SKU
  035888