NV Taylor Fladgate - Porto Tawny Port 20 Year Old

Taylor Fladgate traces its roots to 1692, when English merchant Job Bearsley began trading Portuguese wine, making it one of the oldest Port houses still in operation today. The firm took its familiar name in 1838, when Joseph Taylor, John Alexander Fladgate, and Morgan Yeatman formalized their partnership, and in 1744 the house became the first British shipper to purchase a vineyard property in the Douro Valley. Entirely devoted to Port production for more than three centuries, Taylor Fladgate remains family-run and is widely regarded as one of the benchmark houses for both Vintage and aged Tawny styles.

This wine is crafted from grapes grown in the Cima Corgo and Douro Superior, two of the region's most prized subzones, using Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz, and other traditional varieties. Taylor Fladgate was among the first Port producers to adopt piston fermentation, a technique that extracts more flavor and color than conventional methods. Fermentation is stopped early with the addition of grape spirit, preserving natural sweetness, and the wine then rests in 600-liter oak casks for two decades, losing a small percentage of its volume to evaporation each year as it slowly shifts from deep purple to its signature amber hue.

The wine opens with an intense amber tawny color and an opulent, voluptuous nose of spice, jammy fruit, and toasted nuts, lifted by a note of orange blossom. On the palate it is rich and concentrated, with flavors of dried apricot, butterscotch, and toasted pecan carrying through a long, mellow finish. Its warmth and complexity make it an excellent match for dark chocolate torte, roasted chestnuts, or a wedge of aged Stilton.