NV Taylor Fladgate - Porto Tawny Port 10 Year Old

Taylor Fladgate began in 1692 when English merchant Job Bearsley started trading Port from Vila Nova de Gaia, and the firm took its current name in 1838 after Joseph Taylor formed a partnership with John Fladgate and Morgan Yeatman. In 1744 the house became the first British shipper to buy vineyard land in the Douro, a step that eventually led to its acquisition of Quinta de Vargellas, still the cornerstone of its vintage Ports today. Taylor Fladgate later pioneered the Late Bottled Vintage category and remains one of only a handful of houses producing tawnies aged a full ten, twenty, thirty, and even forty years. It is now the namesake house of the Fladgate Partnership, alongside Fonseca and Croft.

This 10 Year Old Tawny is blended from reserves of cask aged Ports drawn from vineyards in the Cima Corgo and Douro Superior. The wines rest in the firm's cool, tranquil lodges on the Atlantic coast at Vila Nova de Gaia, where slow oxidation gradually shifts their color from ruby to amber and softens their tannins. Fermentation is stopped partway through with the addition of grape spirit, leaving natural sugar behind and producing a sweet, fortified style built for drinking on release rather than further cellaring.

The wine shows a deep brick color with an amber rim, and its nose combines ripe berry fruit with delicate nuttiness, chocolate, and butterscotch over a base of fine oak. The palate is smooth and silky, full of figgy, jammy flavor that lingers into a long finish. Serve it with roasted pecans, dried apricots, or a coffee based dessert.