Tres Hermanos Robusto (No. 3) – Taylors Vintage Port 1980 (half bottle).
I am the first to confess that my expertise, such as it is, is almost non-existent when it comes to non-Cubans. I honestly doubt that my total for NC’s smoked would make 1% of the cigars experienced.
And so when kindly presented with an array of NC’s for review – in this case from Tres Hermanos – I do what any ex-lawyer would do and completely fake it!
More seriously, this intriguing selection arrived recently and I am working my way through them, though a few have been, at first glimpse, a little daunting – a 70 ring gauge? That was only a 100mm cigar, but also awaiting is a 66 ring gauge in a 180mm cigar called ‘Big Hermano’. The mind boggles and I think I might need to leave half a day for that one. There is also a Salomones – 57mm ring gauge and 190mm in length. I'm looking forward to that one as I do believe that if their rollers can construct a good Salomones then it speaks volumes as to their skills.
It seemed sane to start with something more familiar and a little less overwhelming – their Robusto (No 3). A 50mm ring gauge and 124mm in length.
I will have more on Tres Hermanos, as well as their cigars, in future Kenfessions, but this was a promising start.
This cigar had a dark wrapper and was obviously well constructed, though very firm. Cold, the smell was not unattractive. The draw was fine. It kicked off with roasted nuts and earthy notes. Some good dense smoke. It was immediately above medium in strength, but soon grew to very much full-bodied, though did come back a little towards the end. As we moved through it, there was a slightly sweet black coffee note which emerged, a choc biscuit character and more and more, a menthol note. Not sure that it might not have been a little better if that menthol character had never materialised. It also got a bit hot and even a touch dirty at the finish.
Despite these slight changes in the flavours, there was little evolution throughout. That said, it was a very pleasant cigar, which quickly got into stride. I'm not sure of the price, at this stage, so I can’t really comment on value as yet, but if well-priced, I'd be happy to smoke more of these. For me, 88.
To match, I had found an old half bottle of port, specifically the 1980 Taylor's Vintage Port. Vintage Port is, for me, truly one of the great wines for matching with cigars and it worked a treat here. A cracking cigar drink.
It was beautifully mature, red/brown. Supple, still fresh and clean. There was a lovely sweetness with great depth and length. Caramel on the finish. Delicious. 94. I've always thought that 1980 was a good though hardly great vintage, but recent examples suggest it has aged magnificently. For a forty-year-old port, this was singing. Of course, if you want to see the best from a vintage, taking a look at a producer which is almost always offering one of the year’s best is a good idea. Put simply, Taylor's is one of the world’s great wine producers, let alone a stellar port maker. If any 1980 should go the distance, you’d expect this to be it.
This all reminded me of a tasting a number of years ago and (anyone not interested in port, feel free to sign off now because you won’t miss anything) I have plagiarised myself and a piece I did for the Fine Wine magazine.
It came about back when Brisbane was suffering a tough year, although I doubt it was anywhere near as tough as this one. There had been cyclones up north and devastating floods, footage of which apparently made its way around the globe. Even the tiny, bucolic creek that trickles lazily past my house, home to all manner of birds, tortoises, water-dragons and the occasional fat happy carpet python, turned into a raging Himalayan-esque torrent, carrying 70-foot trees past my balcony like matchsticks. Fortunately, it drew the line at coming any higher than under the house, just, but the 'professional wine storage', holding part of my cellar, in another, low-lying, part of the city was not spared. We got to it quickly, cleaned and relocated the bottles, immediately the waters receded. Bar some label damage – the more expensive the wine, the cheaper the label? – things could have been much worse. What was especially irritating was I had been about to pull out one of those 'special' old bottles (how often do we keep them just a fraction too long?) to share with some friends, just before the deluge. And to update, without going into details, I have just had yet another massive lesson in not keeping wines (and spirits and cigars too long).
Unlike Noah, I had only a single of this wine on board – 1948 Taylor’s Vintage Port. Purchased it from a wine merchant friend in the 1980s, just before heading to the UK to study and work, now was the time to open it with him and a few friends. Fortunately, it looked to have come through as unscathed as possible (it already evidenced a small ullage). Fortunately, the rest of my ports had been stored elsewhere.
From a single acorn, as they say in the classics.
I had a few other vintages and so, a small, very small at this stage, vertical tasting was born (for the uninitiated, vertical tastings are where you have a number of vintages of the same wine). My dear old mum once asked me what I was doing. Told her I was off to a vertical tasting. She shook her head sadly (a gesture with which I am not unfamiliar) and said, ‘you really would think that these people could afford chairs’.
Friends, and friends of friends, quickly 'volunteered' for the day, and offered whatever may have been lurking in their own cellars. Word spread interstate. An old mate, Iain Riggs, in charge of Brokenwood in the Hunter Valley for decades, one of our leading show judges and a stalwart of the annual Len Evans Tutorial, was on board. So too, Peter Godden from the Australian Wine Research Institute. As was the man who has surely forgotten more about fortifieds than the rest of us will ever know, James Godfrey, gatekeeper for the fabulous Seppelt fortifieds, including the extraordinary 100-Year-Old Para Tawny, and so much more. Halliday could not make it but berated me soundly some years later about not being there, until I reminded him that he had declined. Toss in a few distributors, retailers, auctioneers and fortified fanatics and the day was taking shape. The floods and other assorted disasters may have been long in the past by now, but there was no stopping the event. Entry was a bottle of Taylors Vintage Port (a vintage not already claimed).
The event was held at Ortiga, back then one of Australia's most exciting Spanish restaurants, Portuguese establishments being a little thin on the ground in this neck of the woods. Owner Simon Hill opened just for this event. Simon understands and loves wine, which greatly assists for these events. The tasting would be in the morning, followed by a lunch with everybody contributing 'something decent' – another story, especially as one of our number let it be known that magnums were de rigueur. Oh, the damage that did.
Anyone who has anything to do with the Aussie wine industry, amateur or professional, will know just extraordinarily generous it can be. The week before the tasting, I received two calls. It seems Riggs, off his own bat, had tracked down some contacts in the UK and taken possession of a 1935 Taylor's VP and a 'Believed to be' 1955 Taylor's VP. Another friend, visiting New York, had happened to walk past a wine auction, as you do, just before a 1924 Taylor’s went under the hammer. He thought it would be nice to include it (we decided to include it as a 'blind wine' as only he and I knew it would be there on the day). We should have been 17 in number but family illness ruled one out, though that did not stop him from insisting we include his bottle of 1966. So, 16 vintages and 16 tasters, with at least one port from every decade since the 1920s.
Sixteen winelovers inevitably had sixteen varying opinions on exactly when everything should be decanted and what order they should be served, though it didn't take much to force a consensus. Young wines were decanted the previous day, 'middle-aged' at varying times that morning and the old, but hopefully not decrepit, shortly before the event. For most, it worked very well.
As for brackets, four of four seemed ideal. And definitely old to young. So first up, 1924, 1935, 1948 and the '55 (though the 1924 was served at the end of the bracket as the day's mystery wine – the identity of all others being known). 1963, 1966, 1970 and 1977 were next. 1980, 1983, 1985 and 1994 the third grouping. Finally, 2000, 2003, 2007 and the 2007 'Quinta de Vargellas Vinha Velha' to conclude. There were a few vintages, especially the 1945 and the 1992, we would have liked to include, but we failed to locate any.
Removal of corks, most had held up wonderfully well, did reveal one small problem. Our 'Believed to be' 1955 Taylor's was in reality, a 1960 Crofts. We still chose to include it and were pleased we did, as it highlighted what different styles the two Houses represent. Of course, in 2001, the Taylors Fonseca group purchased the House of Croft, so there was a link.
There had been a minor drama when the planned 1970 had developed a slightly weeping cork a few weeks before the event, but that worked well in the end. A replacement was found, which was in wonderful condition, and a few of us had a small preview of glories to come. Otherwise, everything seemed in first-class condition. All of those present were familiar with Taylor's Vintage Ports and everyone was a fan. Much more so after the day!
They say that Taylor’s is the 'Latour of Vintage Port'. Surely, they have it wrong. Surely, Latour is the 'Taylor’s of Bordeaux'.
Taylor's, or perhaps more properly Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman, was founded in 1692 by Job Bearsley, who had been trading salt cod in the region for the previous twenty years. They are not the oldest House, Warre's pre-dates them, having been established in 1670 (Croft claims 1588).
Originally, there was a broad focus, not limited to wine. The “4XX” brand, that still adorns their bottles and branding, was actually an old wool mark. Bearsley's son, Peter, was the first British trader to head upriver (and trust me, a trip up the Duoro is an absolute must or at the very least, take the train from Oporto and enjoy one of the great train trips on the planet, as it hugs the edge of the river) seeking top-quality wines, while in 1744, Peter's brother, Bartholomew, purchased Lugar das Lages, the first Douro estate sold to an Englishman. Taylor's have made port there every year since, except for a short break when Wellington took over to use it as a field hospital for Lord Beresford's troops.
The Bearsley's left the company shortly after the turn of the century, in 1806. Others came and went before Joseph Taylor joined as a partner in 1816. Within ten years, he had sole control. In 1836, London wine merchant, John Fladgate joined Taylor, who died the following year. Morgan Yeatman joined Fladgate in 1838 or 1844, depending on which authority one prefers, the later date seeming to garner more support. When the company decided on a name, in 1844, they retained 'Taylor' as part of it.
Since that time, the operation has been very much the family affair. The Yeatman family held the rudder for many years, with Frank, known to all as 'Smiler', the key figure of the early years of the 20th century. When his brother, Harry, died in 1919, Frank had sole control but was soon joined by his son, Dick, the first Port maker to study viticulture at Montpelier in France. Dick was joined by his cousin, Stanley Yeatman. Smiler retired in 1949, after 50 vintages. Together with Dick and Stanley, he had revolutionised the industry, notwithstanding the difficult times it faced. In the 1920s, at the Vargellas vineyard, they brought in the concept of separating varietals in different blocks and carried this through to separate fermentations. There were also single-variety plantings in the Polverinho vineyard, which forms part of the Vinha Velha section of Vargellas. They extended plantings and in the mid-1930s, released the first dry white port (Taylor's Chip Dry). In 1949 (or possibly 1948 – again, authorities vary), they purchased Fonseca. The move to single Quinta ports began with Taylor's 'Quinta de Vargellas' and the 1958 vintage. They also led the Aged Tawny market, introducing the first 10 and 20-year-old wines.
Stanley passed away in 1960 and Dick purchased his share, taking full control. He soon offered partnerships to Bruce Guimaraens of Fonseca, a descendant of the Fladgate's, and to Huyshe Bower from the Yeatman family. After Dick's death in 1966, his widow, Beryl, brought in her nephew, Alistair Robertson. Innovation must run in the family as credit for Late Bottled Vintage ports (LBV) falls to Alistair, with the first release unveiled in 1970. The drinking public of the day was after a 'vintage port' that they didn't have to age for decades, that didn't break the bank and which they could drink without decanting. LBV ticked all the boxes.
Control at Taylor's now rests with David Guimaraens (Bruce's son), who studied in Australia, and Robertson's son-in-law, Adrian Bridge.
Like all port producers, Taylor's only declares a vintage port in the best of years, which of course, must also suit that House's style. Hence, Taylor needs a vintage that promotes their “masculine” style. Their best are the powerhouse of ports, offering incredible intensity and longevity, while treading the finest of tightropes towards elegance. Expect serious structure, rather than the plushness of some Houses, or the sweetness of yet others. Tradition dictates that they make their vintage announcement on St Georges Day. Recently, they have declared 2016, 2017 and 2018 – the first time in over 300 years that three consecutive vintages have been declared. Two in a row is rare enough.
I have left out a heap of stuff on their various vineyards here but it is worth taking some notice of Vargellas, one of the world’s finest estates.
Vargellas, a 164-hectare estate located in the far distant parts of the Douro, is key to Taylors. It is a north-facing amphitheatre, situated well above the Douro River. 68 hectares are producing. These terraces have been classified by UNESCO as World Heritage. Plantings at Vargellas are devoted to approximately one-quarter each of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesca and Tinta Roriz, with the rest a mix, especially Tinta Barroca, Tinta Cao and Tinta Amarela, along with some thirty other permitted varieties. In years that don't quite make Vintage quality, a single Quinta vintage port is often produced. In what Taylor's consider to be the very finest years for the Vargellas vineyard, they make a few hundred cases of Quinta de Vargellas 'Vinha Velha' Vintage Port.
The 2007 VVV followed on from 2004, 2000, 1997 and 1995. 2009 is the sixth release. Only a tenth of the estate qualifies as 'Vinha Velha', and this consists of five parcels, though only the oldest parts, with vines ranging between 80 to 120 years, are used in the VVV. For those concerned about the effect releasing such a port might have on Taylor’s VP, production is less than 1% of that wine.
The wines on the day?
The 1935 Taylor's Vintage Port was quite simply extraordinary. 100 points. This was the first port of the tasting. There was a universal concern that we may have peaked early! Sell your firstborn; mortgage the cat. There was no sense that this was teetering on a cliff but there seems little point in hanging on, just for the sake of making it 'even older'. Impossible to imagine it improving. At this age, storage is crucial and not all bottles will sing, as this one did. Don't risk it. Yes, it will undoubtedly live for some time yet, but why would you let it? Michael Broadbent, a famous English wine critic, had dubbed this the “best 1935 and one of the greatest ports of the century”, several times awarding it 6 stars, out of 5.
Could it ever match the hype? Could it, what! And how. More than a few of us felt it as good a vintage port as we'd ever seen, or were ever likely to see. Sheer perfection. A monumental port by any standards.
Looking at some scores of other top ports on the day, 1970 with 97, stunned everyone by topping both the legendary 1963 and 1977 in its bracket, proving this really is a much-underrated vintage and providing a compelling example of why Taylor's has been dubbed 'the Latour of Ports'. A classic. The 1994 with 98, a consistently spectacular VP (the Wine Speccy gave it 100 points and named it and the Fonseca as their joint Wine of the Year in 1997).
The 2007 'Quinta de Vargellas Vinha Velha' also starred with 99+. This had notes that reminded me of the Partagas 8-9-8. I can't think of a more massive wine which, bizarrely, seems to exhibit a formal elegance. A monster. There is no one alive today who will outlive this port. Only 3,600 bottles ever made. The most remarkable young VP I have ever seen. Served blind, no one went close to picking the decade, let alone the vintage.
The wine which started the entire thing, the 1948, was much loved but probably not the greatest bottle opened. 93 for me. 1963 got 96; as did the 1977. The standard 2007 got 96+. 1985 scored 95, as did the 2000.
Scores elsewhere tapered off.
And our 1980? How did it perform? My thoughts at the time were that if any port in the line up was likely to struggle, the smart money may have found a home here. The smart money may have been disappointed. A lovely surprise and a joy to drink now. Quite spicy and powerful, it drank well above vintage reputation. Intense, dense, ripe and with quite fine tannins. Good length. Other reports suggest it is sturdy rather than spectacular and more than likely the best of the vintage. That seems accurate. It may not have quite the structure or the potential longevity of wines like 1977 or 1970, but don't let that stop you. 91.
So it seems my little half outperformed its sibling on the day.
KBG
