Late Bottled Vintage Porto (2016)

About this wine

The wine shows broad purple black color with a narrow magenta rim and an immediate nose of blackberry, raspberry and plum. On the palate the fruit is dense and luscious yet retains a fresh grapey quality that is cut by a seam of racy acidity. Tannins are taut and linear, giving the wine a sinewy muscularity and impressive depth that will allow it to age in bottle for decades. Taylor bottles this as a Late Bottled Vintage which means the wine is drawn from the 2016 harvest and aged in wood before bottling so it is ready to drink on release. The blend is based on traditional Douro varieties including Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão, and the wine carries the classic Taylor style of pure focused fruit with restrained stamina. The finish is very long and shows persistent dark berry flavor with subtle wild herbal notes of resin and balsam adding complexity.

About the grape

The blend in Taylor Fladgate 2016 LBV relies on Touriga Nacional for concentrated color, aromatic intensity and tannic backbone, a grape that originated in northern Portugal and is often planted on the schist terraces of the Douro where low vigour and stressed vines give small, powerful berries. Touriga Franca contributes fragrant red fruit and structural balance, it has been a traditional Douro field blend variety prized for reliability and its ability to ripen across varied exposures. Tinta Roriz, the local name for Tempranillo, brings flesh and mid palate weight along with distinctive resinous notes, it performs well on warmer lower terraces and is used here to round the wine out. Tinta Barroca and Tinto Cão add sugar and longevity respectively, Barroca for high natural sugar and floral lift from warmer sites, Cão for its small berries, firm acid and the ageing potential that helps LBV ports evolve in bottle.

Quick facts

• 🏛️ Taylor Fladgate were among the pioneers who created and popularized the Late Bottled Vintage style, designing LBV as a high-quality, ready-to-drink alternative to Vintage Port.
• ❄️ The 2016 LBV shows a distinctive ‘racy’ acidity and taut, linear tannins tied to a cooler-than-average ripening season in August that the house says gave the vintage extra freshness.
• 🌸 Unlike many Ports, the 2016 LBV keeps a small but prized share of Tinta Cão in its blend, a low-yielding, old Douro grape celebrated for adding perfume and longevity.
• 🕰️ Taylor’s LBV wines are aged in wood for four to six years before bottling so the 2016 release arrived attractively approachable on release while still carrying concentrated, vintage-like fruit.
• 🏆 The 2016 Late Bottled Vintage earned strong critical attention on release, picking up high scores from major critics and becoming one of the more widely recommended Taylor LBV releases of the decade.

Palate profile

Producer

Taylor Fladgate, established in 1692 by Job Bearsley, is one of the oldest Port houses in Portugal. The company has remained independent and family-run throughout its history, contributing significantly to the development of Port wine. Notably, Taylor Fladgate pioneered the Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) style in 1970, offering a ready-to-drink alternative to traditional Vintage Port. The winery's commitment to quality is evident in its ownership of esteemed estates like Quinta de Vargellas, acquired in 1893, which provides grapes for their renowned Vintage Ports.