In Bond Fine Wine. 1985 Taylor, Port, Douro, Portugal. Other vintage port in 6x75cl. Top critic score: 95/100 (NM). Drinking window: 2010–2035. Sold in bond by Albany Vintners, independent fine wine merchants.
Taylor’s Port is one of the oldest and most revered Port houses, established in 1692 and still family managed today. Widely regarded as the benchmark for Vintage Port, Taylor’s has built its reputation on wines of remarkable purity, structure and longevity, combining immense concentration with extraordinary elegance and restraint. Sourced from some of the Douro Valley’s greatest vineyards, including the famed Quinta de Vargellas, Taylor’s Vintage Ports are renowned for their lifted аrоmatics, firm tannic backbone and ability to age gracefully for many decades. Alongside their iconic Vintage Ports, the house is equally celebrated for its exceptional aged Tawnies, which showcase the complexity, finesse and balance that have defined Taylor’s style for more than three centuries.
Jancis Robinson MW (JR) — 18/20 · JancisRobinson.com, 30/11/2013 · Drink 2010-2035
Mid ruby. Becoming a little pale. Rose petals and brown sugar on the nose with some violets. Very subtle. Not that enormously sweet but very smooth and seductive with a dry, peppery finish. Long.
Jancis Robinson MW (JR) — 18/20 · JancisRobinson.com, 10/06/2015 · Drink 2010-2025
Still going very strong from a bottle via a decanter. (The Robertsons served Fonseca 1985 at their dinner that night to celebrate Fonseca's bicentenary.) Lovely hazelnuts nose and soft, spicy and sweet on the palate. Tannins fully resolved but still vigorous too.
Neal Martin (NM) — 95/100 · Wine Advocate, RobertParker.com, 01/05/2008
A very youthful deep garnet core with ruby rim. This has a much more precocious nose than the -83 with ripe blackberry, raspberry coulis, black olives and a certain minerality to it. Very fresh and well defined, the palate is full-bodied, certainly more structured and complex than the previous two declarations. Notes of black cherry, fig, raisin with a hint of savoury fruit towards the finish tha…