2022 Taylor's Sentinels

The 2022 Sentinels Vintage Port is a new vintage Port from Taylor's, and this is the first time they have released this wine. It was selected from their best lots in their properties in the Pinhão Valley, the Quintas Terra Feita, Junco, Casa Nova and Eira Velha. It has the traditional grapes from the region with a significant percentage of old vines planted with mixed varieties, and it fermented with indigenous yeasts and matured in large oak vats for two years. They didn't declare their vintage this year and produced this wine and the single quinta from Quinta de Vargellas. It's harmonious and serious, a little shy, certainly not explosive, with a classical profile and the approachable personality of the 2022s, soft and textured with very fine tannins, with a medium structure. It has 20% alcohol, with 4.2 grams of acidity and 102 grams of sugar. 54,000 bottles produced. It was bottled in 2024.

A new port from The Fladgate Partnership using fruit sourced from their properties in and around the Pinhão Valley: Terra Feita, Junco, Casa Nova and Eira Velha. A field blend dominated by Touriga Francesa, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Amarela and Tinta da Barca. Foot-trodden and aged in big wooden vats of 20,000 litres for two years. RS 102 g/l, pH 3.74, TA 4.3 g/l. Black core with purple rim. Dark and lightly charry dark fruit (but not oaky), becoming more floral with air. Ripe and redolent of damsons and mulberries, with an inviting sweetness. On the palate, this has notable freshness and really flows over the palate, none of the thickness of young tannins. Cool and restrained in structure. You might even call this juicy for a young vintage port but behind the fruit is a port firmly structured for longevity. Super-smooth even in youth. (JH)

A new port from The Fladgate Partnership using fruit sourced from their properties in and around the Pinhão Valley: Terra Feita, Junco, Casa Nova and Eira Velha. A field blend dominated by Touriga Francesa, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Amarela and Tinta da Barca. Foot-trodden and aged in big wooden vats of 20,000 litres for two years. RS 102 g/l, pH 3.74, TA 4.3 g/l. Black core with purple rim. Dark and lightly charry dark fruit (but not oaky), becoming more floral with air. Ripe and redolent of damsons and mulberries, with an inviting sweetness. On the palate, this has notable freshness and really flows over the palate, none of the thickness of young tannins. Cool and restrained in structure. You might even call this juicy for a young vintage port but behind the fruit is a port firmly structured for longevity. Super-smooth even in youth. (JH)