2004 Taylor Fladgate Quinta de Vargellas Vinha Velha Vintage Port
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Tasting notes
The 2004 Quinta de Vargellas Vinha Velha Vintage Port is a typical field blend aged in used French oak vats. It comes in with 94 grams per liter of residual sugar. Flamboyant on the nose, although not as much as the 2007 is, this is solid in the mid-palate and is almost drinking decently now. Almost. The tannins are not too astringent, making this surprisingly approachable at this young age, but that is a relative comment. More aeration still makes this close up. It then seems very firm and much sterner. To me, this hasn't quite reached the point where you really will want to drink it, but it's not impossible and not far from becoming more harmonious. If you must dive in, give it some air. This is a very fine but not a truly great Vinha Velha.
Critic scores
Neal Martin
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
Dark and fairly mono-tinted. Black right out to the rim. Lightish and lively and pruney. Firm and angular on the palate. Dry and angular. (JR)
The 2004 Vinha Velha has a potent incense and lavender-scented bouquet that is heady and somehow Oriental. It is well-defined with real power. The palate is medium-bodied with fig jam and dates on the entry that segue into boysenberry and cassis on the mid-palate and a surprisingly open finish that suggests it is evolving a little quicker than I imagined two years ago. Still, this is a superlative Vinha Velha. Tasted May 2013. eRobertParker.com.June, 2013