The name ‘Fladgate Partnership’ may not be familiar, but the array of top class Ports the group produces will be: Taylor’s, Fonseca, Croft and Krohn. Made by long serving Chief Winemaker, David Guimarens, there’s a huge portfolio across the four houses and their many lines. This tasting gathered together six examples ranging in price from £14.50 to £180 per 75cl bottle and covering ruby, tawny, LBV and vintage styles.
Fortified wines such as these are made by the addition of brandy during the fermentation process, followed by substantial ageing in oak barrels. Weighing in with around 20% alcohol and ranging from semi-sweet to full and luscious they may not be for everyone, but Port is one of the world’s great historic wines and represents the pinnacle of its genre. There’s no doubt the Fladgate Partnership has some of the greatest vineyards and wines at its disposal. It is almost impossible to go wrong if choosing one of their bottlings.
The Wines
(2023) Launched in Britain 40 years ago, Bin 27 is blended from selected reserve Ports that have been matured in large, seasoned oak vats. Deep, vibrant crimson in colour, fenugreek and curry spices dominate, coal and chocolate beneath. The sweet palate (95g/l residual sugar) is thick and unctuous, very smooth with an intense blueberry and black cherry fruit, finishing with bitter dark chocolate bite and warmth, and balancing acidity.
(2023) Widely available in UK supermarkets, Taylor's 2018 Late Bottled Vintage is dark as pitch and has a floral, violet-edge note to the fragrance, cassis and black cherry following. So much brighter in character than the Fonseca Bin 27 also tasted. In the mouth the 104g/l of sugar plays out with mouth-filling sweetness and weight, ripe berries and again, cherry, with a dustiness to the tannins in teh finish that adds a welcome, ashy dryness to counter the lingering sweetness.
(2023) A single quinta vintage Port from the Quinta da Roêda, just upstream from the village of Pinhão. Deep crimson, spices and cocoa flit around very dark berry fruits. There's a touch of curry leaf, and balsamic notes that are dark and subtle. The palate is exceptionally smooth and silky, the plum and blackcurrant gloss of fruit melts into a bittersweet chocolate and raisin fudge depth, a nice zestiness to the acidity extending the finish.
(2023) Six grapes in the blend here led by Touriga Nacional, in a wine from the single quinta of Vargellas. It has 99% of residual sugar. Pouring a dramatically dark and opaque crimson-black, the nose is delightful, delicate floral and raspberry nuances around a core of darker, plum and liquorice. So deliciously sweet and full on the palate, the tannins and the spices are there giving a dry background character, but the elegant and sweet fruit moving into chocolate makes this a joy to drink now, or to cellar for a decade or more. Decant off sediment. Use the wine-searcher link to shop around as prices for this wine vary quite markedly. The quoted stockist is the cheapest we could find at time of review.
(2023) I often find the sweet spot for me with age statement Tawny Ports is 20-Year-Old, but Taylor's wines are lovely across the spectrum including this 10-Year-Old. Light ruby/tawny colour. Spicy, with lots of walnutty and caramel notes, exotic spices and tobacco. Fruit comes to the fore on palate, red berries perhaps, but the mellow barrel-aged warmth re-emerges into a long finish with a little bolstering tannin and good acidity. What a delight this would be with a baked fig pudding or chunk of mature cheddar.
(2023) A rare beast, a tawny Port blended from wines matured for five decades in oak casks, a collector’s edition released in very limited quantities. A dark tany/caramel in colour, the nose is resinous and deep, polished wood, meatiness of umami, plus clove and cinammon spices. In the mouth, extraordinary raisiny intensity, marmalade and mollases coating prune, and yet intense angelica brilliance too. Plenty of acidity against the chocolate richness of the finish.