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Taylor's, Very Old Single Harvest Port, 1976 - £195 per bottle IB or £239.51 including taxes
Taylor’s are the preeminent source for aged tawnies in Porto. Their infrequent releases of the magical ‘very old’ series are greatly anticipated and set the gold standard for outstanding long-aged Ports. The current iteration in the sequence is the Very Old Single Harvest Tawny Port from 1976, perfect for any 50th anniversary occasions.
You were either there or will have heard someone mention the “long hot summer of 1976”. It is fabled in the UK - a sustained 10-week heatwave, accompanied by severe drought and water rationing. Intense temperatures were felt across Europe, and the upper Douro, in-land from Porto, was certainly no exception. The harvest in 1976 was in fact 30% smaller than 1975, due to drought. 1976 was therefore not declared as a classic Port vintage, so only single vineyards and Colheitas, like this one, were made to showcase this singular solaire vintage.
As you would expect, coming from Taylor’s, the ‘76 is an absolute beauty. You feel none of the heat of the vintage, but the flavour profile is dominated by dried fruits, nuts and sweet spice. Dried cherries, cranberries, raisins and prunes bound from the glass on the nose. Baked berry fruits, rum and pineapple upside down cake coalesce on the palate with a bevy of vanilla and cinnamon spice, tobacco leaf and roasted Brazil and hazelnut. Orange blossom scents, honey and sweet cigar box notes linger long on the luscious, rancio finish, which has beautifully judged acidity.
Serve chilled and let it come up to temperature. Enjoy it on its own or pair with offal and game (it is particularly good with fried sweetbreads), hard cheeses or desserts like crème brûlée, upside down cake or tarte tatin. Once opened, it will last for a month or so – if you can keep your hands off it.
Colheita (single harvest) Ports are very similar to other Tawny Ports in their creation, with a couple of notable differences. Most importantly, the grapes must come from a single harvest. The wines must also spend at least 7 years (or in this case 50 years) in large, seasoned oak barrels, typically 600L Port Pipes. Ageing in these vessels allows for very slow oxidation and almost no oak flavours to be extracted.
1976: the year Apple was founded, the USA celebrated its bicentennial and Concorde began commercial flights.
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