Taylor Fladgate 2011 Late Bottled Vintage Port ($26.99)

Taylor Fladgate

Deep purple, with ruby glints against the light. Classic Port scents of black and blue fruit, plums, blackberries and blueberries with a sense of heat on the nose from its fortified 20% alcohol. Full-bodied and sweet on first tasting, black fruit and a whiff of fennel, fresh and clean, fills the mouth with bright acidity, powerful tannins and alcoholic heat. For all of that power, it’s nicely rounded and balanced, with blackberry and plum fruit lingering with astringent tannins in a very long finish. U.S. importer: Kobrand Corp., Purchase, N.Y. (Sept. 7, 2017)

FOOD MATCH: Port is best for after-dinner sipping with cheeses, although it can certainly be called to non-traditional service with rare roast beef or, perhaps even better, venison and other strong-flavored game.

WHEN TO DRINK: Don’t count on LBV to age for decades as we expect of a true Vintage Port in good vintages, nor is it intended to evolve with age; rather, it’s designed to provide immediate drinking pleasure, now and over the next few years. Still, Wine-Searcher.com reveals quite a few vendors offering bottles back to 2005 at prices consistent with recent vintages.

VALUE:
My local price is a few bucks over Wine-Searcher.com’s $23 average retail, and some shops show it in the upper teens, so shop around. Still, a fine LBV offers much of the pleasure of a fine Vintage Port at a good discount, so I’m not complaining about a middle $20s price.

WEB LINK
Taylor-Fladgate offers this detailed fact sheet in English on its LBV; better still, you can click from here to a full library on Port and how to enjoy it.
Importer Kobrand Corp. also has extensive information at this link.

FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Find vendors and compare prices for Taylor Fladgate 2011 Late Bottled Vintage Port on Wine-Searcher.com.

For a good primer on Late Bottled Vintage and an extensive catalog of LBVs and vendors, check this page on Wine-Searcher.com.

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