Taylor Fladgate 1970 (750ML)

99 RP / 99 WE / 98 WA / 98 WS / 18.5 JR

1970 Taylor is a sensational vintage port that is just hitting its peak of perfection. - Robert Parker, Hedonist's Gazette 10/1/2002

This house must certainly be the Latour of Portugal. Their ports are remarkably backward yet still impressive when young. Of all the vintage ports, those of Taylor need the longest time to mature and even when fully mature seem to have an inner strength and firmness that keep them going for decades. Their tawnys are also among the very best, though somewhat expensive. The 1970 fabulous, a broodingly dense-colored, backward port that has all the signs of future greatness, provided one is willing to cellar it until the early 1990s. Robert Parker

This wine's dark garnet color with minimal bricking suggests a relatively youthful wine and this certainly could age longer, although it's also delicious now. Wonderfully complex floral and herbal scents easily move into deep, rich flavors of chocolate and cherries, sprinkled with a healthy dose of Douro minerality and spice. Drink or hold. Joe Czerwinski - The Wine Enthusiast

A deep garnet core with a faded brick rim. The nose is still tight, youthful with notes of liquorices, raisin, boot-polish and a little lemongrass. Again, very well defined and a little more intensity than the -63. The palate is full-bodied with firm tannins, very cohesive with superb ripeness: wild strawberry, lemongrass, smoke and dates with an incredibly long, persistent finish. There is an effortless nature to this port and having encountered this several times, this is undoubtedly the best bottle I have had. It has such weight on the finish that it will cruise past another 20-25 years in bottle. It just has the edge over the great -77. Tasted November 2007. - Neal Martin, Wine Advocate

Clearly lives up to Taylor's superb reputation. Deep ruby, with intense violet and chocolate aromas, full-bodied, with gorgeous fruit flavors, full but well-integrated tannins and an extremely long finish. Amazing balance and finesse. Still needs time. - James Suckling, Wine Spectator

Light brickish ruby. Sweet, mellow, gentle nose. Lovely haunting, fully mature wine with more lusciousness than most 1970s and a really rich undertow of round fruit. Impossible not to like this wine, although it may not be as long-lived as some other 1970s. A very neat finish. - Jancis Robinson