TAYLOR

This is packed with raspberry, blackberry and blueberry fruit flavors that play off one another, melding with anise, fruitcake and ganache notes. A warm tarry edge coats the finish, revealing an echo of bramble. A seriously grippy, strapping Port, this revels in its power. Drinking range: 2032 - 2055 Rating: 98 James Molesworth, The Wine Spectator (Oct 2018)

The 2016 Vintage Port is a field blend set to be bottled about a week after this tasting. It was the final blend. It was aged for 20 months in wood and comes in with 102 grams of residual sugar. The Croft might be as rich—although I don't think so; we'll see as they age—but this is more expressive right now. The most delicious of the three Fladgate Group offerings, this has the sexiest fruit, although the Fonseca seems to have more pure power. Even allowing that it had a fair bit of air, this was showing surprisingly well for young Taylor's. That is speaking relatively, of course, because this still has power and energy. Personally, this year I'd definitely pick Fonseca, though. Fonseca just seems to have a little more upside potential. With Port, of course, things change over the decades. This is a first look, not a final word. Drinking range: 2026 - 2070 Rating: 94-96 Mark Squires, robertparker.com (Jul 2018)

In 2016 Taylor's began picking in Vargellas on 17 September, followed by Pinhão Valley estate on 23 and 26 September. The 2016 Vintage Port has an aristocratic bouquet with tight wound aromas of blackberry, bilberry, crushed stone, black olive and a light, marine-tinged element, perhaps almost peat-like. The palate is just beautiful with fine, chiseled tannins and a perfect line of acidity. There is that almost "arching" structure one always seeks in a great Taylor’s with a gentle but insistent grip towards the finish. It is everything you really want from a Vintage Port. Production is 6,200 cases. Drinking range: 2018 - 2030 Rating: 97 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (Jun 2018)

Dark crimson but without the blueish purple of the Grahams. Tight, refined nose – rather claret-like. Not as obviously sweet as some. Restrained aromatically: backward with sharp, linear blackcurrant and violet notes. This tastes like a somewhat shouty, scratchy baby at the moment – which is no criticism of a wine designed to age as long as a vintage port. But then there are masses of sweet fruit with liquorice surrounded in a scratchy skein of tannins and acidity. Drinking range: 2043 - 2070 Rating: 18 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (May 2018)

A blend from two of Taylor’s most famous estates: Quinta de Vargellas in the Douro Superior and Quinta de Terra Feita in the Pinhão Valley. Dense and heady on the nose with an attractive green, leafy edge; sweet and plump initially with lovely bright damson fruit, nicely defined but not as big as some of the wines in this line up, Fonseca included. Firm, tight knit tannins on the finish which shows lovely purity of fruit. Still a bit sullen on re-tasting, needs time to pull together. 6,500 cases. Rating: 17.5+ Richard Mayson, www.richardmayson.com  (May 2018)

An exuberantly floral wine with plum and liquorice in abundance, this is a tender and succulent Taylors with a surprisingly pliant and silky palate. A few shades darker than the 2011, but more welcoming and uplifting, too, this is a thrilling wine with clean finish and masses of unbridled energy. Rating: 18.5+ Matthew Jukes www.matthewjukes.com (May 2018)

Deep purple black with a narrow magenta rim. High notes of pure, intense woodland fruit with lively accents of green apple, fresh plum and raspberry. Around this core of bright, singing fruit is a heady aura of gumcistus and wine herbs. On a deeper register, exotic notes of cedarwood and jasmine provide an additional dimension of complexity. The wine has an attractive leanness and muscularity with sinewy, linear tannins that integrate seamlessly into the mid palate and then re-emerge to hold the wine in a confident grip. Energised by a racy acidity, the intense berry flavours continue to build into the long finish. Although the keynotes are refinement and poise, the wine displays the restrained vigour and stamina that are the hallmarks of the Taylor style.Winemaker's notes (Apr 2018)