Taylor’s feeds historic tawny demand

Taylor’s has raided its library collection to release a single harvest tawny Port from 1863.

Describing the Port as coming from “the last great harvest before the spread of phylloxera in the Douro”, Taylor’s described its release as a response to “continuing demand for rare wood-aged Ports”.

Recent years have seen this category emerge as a major focus for Taylor’s. Four years ago it launched Scion, a £2,500 tawny Port from 1855, while last year the house boosted its stocks of aged tawny with the acquisition of Wiese & Krohn. In January 2014 Taylor’s launched the first in its new series of 50-year-old single harvest, cask-aged Ports, releasing 2,000 bottles from 1964.

The house will unveil this 1863 follow up offering in Hong Kong on 26 May, followed by New York on 4 June, and finally at this year’s London Wine Fair on 3 June, where managing director Adrian Bridge will present the expression as part of a masterclass on aged tawny Port.

The session is open exclusively by invitation, but members of the trade who wish to attend should contact Amanda Collins at Mentzendorff for details.

Presented in a crystal decanter and wooden box, each bottle is accompanied by a signed certificate from Taylor’s managing director Adrian Bridge, who described the Port as being “like a time capsule, offering a fascinating glimpse into a distant past.”

Noting that “the 1863 has been in wood for over a century-and-a-half and is a piece of wine history,” he added: “thanks to the perfect ageing environment of the lodges in Oporto, it is perfectly balanced and shows an extraordinary vitality.”