1965 Single Harvest

Taylor’s extensive cask aged reserves include a collection of very rare and valuable Single Harvest Ports. Not to be confused with...

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1965 Single Harvest

About the Wine

Taylor’s extensive cask aged reserves include a collection of very rare and valuable Single Harvest Ports. Not to be confused with Vintage Ports, which age in bottle, Single Harvest Ports are wines of a single year which have been aged in seasoned oak casks. They display the date of the harvest on the label. These wonderfully mellow, complex wines have been aged to full maturity and are ready to drink when bottled.

Every year, Taylor’s makes a limited release of a Single Harvest Port made 50 years previously. These are the perfect wines with which to celebrate a 50th anniversary or birthday and are presented in attractive wooden gift boxes.

The Taylor’s 1964 Single Harvest Port, released in 2014, is followed by the wonderfully fine and smooth Single Harvest 1965, with its seductive tawny colour, fine complex nose and smooth silky palate. Taylor’s will make further releases of 50 year old Single Harvest Ports in the coming years.

Tasting Notes

Seductive tawny colour which fades to a broad amber rim with discreet olive highlights. The nose is very fine and delicate, with an attractive walnut and marzipan nuttiness, notes of fine oak and discreet aromas of marmalade, black pepper and cinnamon. On the palate, the wine is full and round, with a smooth silky texture and warm mellow spicy flavours. The finish is long, with a crisp clean lift of acidity. Wonderfully poised and elegant, this exceptional Aged Tawny Port is ready to drink now and is the perfect wine with which to celebrate a 50th birthday or anniversary.

ACCOLADES

The 1965 Very Old Single Harvest Port, that is, a Colheita, single vintage tawny, is part of Taylor's continuing series of releases of old Colheitas. A field blend of typical grapes, it comes in at 157 grams per liter of residual sugar. In the overall context of amazing old Colheitas, it may not take 1st prize, but it will strike anyone who loves them as pretty fine. Get ready for those aromatics that are powerful from several feet away. Irresistible on opening, it has an up-front rush of sugar, concentrated aromatics and remarkable concentration of flavor on the finish. Laced with classic old tawny nuances, including a bit of molasses and treacle, it ends with a dark, burnished feel. The mid-palate depth is just average. There are some whiffs of brandy that are sometimes rather too obvious here and there, but not often. Overall, it is bright and lively, with its good acidity cutting through the sugar and concentrated flavors. The two balance each other well. Some tawnies are caressing and sensual; some are rich and lush; some lean more to bite and focus. This is in the latter category, but the price of admission here is that concentration of mature, old tawny Port flavors. The acidity and the sugar lace those flavors into the palate. It emphasizes treacle more as time goes on. It's pretty fine

Mark Squires, Erobertparker.com