Image © Taylor Fladgate
Wednesday February 10th: Participated in a Zoom tasting of Taylor Fladgate Kingsman Edition Very Old Tawny Port. The company sent a test tube of the wine to wine-writers across Canada, which we tasted with Taylor Fladgate’s CEO Adrian Bridge and winemaker David Guimaraens. It’s a blend of old Tawny ports, averaging 90 years of age. The blend was made specifically for the King’s Man movie franchise, a spy drama set in Edwardian days. 1000 bottles were made. The selling price: $5,000.
Ambered-mahogany in colour; spirit-y nose of walnuts, raisins, dates, dried fig and honey; full-bodied, intense, concentrated flavours of dried fruits and orange, beautifully balanced with lively acidity with an unconscionably long finish. (If ever I was to give 100 points to a wine it would be this one! Dammit, I will give it 100 points!!)
Other wines tasted:
Pelee Island Winery Pinot Noir Vinedressers Reserve 2017 (Pelee Island, $19.95, Vintages #325282)
Deep purple-ruby in colour; cedar, spicy, black raspberry bouquet with well-integrated oak notes; medium-bodied, dry, elegant, well-extracted raspberry flavour. Well-balanced. (89)
Blue Mountain Brut Rosé 2016 (Okanagan Valley)
Salmon pink in colour; very active mousse of tiny bubbles; a nose of cranberries and wild strawberries; medium-bodied, dry, beautifully balanced and fresh with a thread of minerality. (93)
Villa Bacchus Winery Commisso Gewurztraminer 2019 (Niagara-on-the-Lake, $25.07)
Deep old gold in colour; spicy, lychee, ginger and rose water nose; medium-bodied, melon, cardamom, lychee and lime flavours with a touch of sweetness in mid-palate. (89)
Dom Pérignon Brut 2010 (Champagne, $267.95, Vintages #280461)
White gold in colour with an active mousse of tiny bubbles; minerally, floral. Lightly toasty, apple bouquet; medium-bodied, crisply dry. Lemon and apple flavours; beautifully balanced; elegant, with great length. (93)
Dom Pérignon Lenny Kravitz Brut 2008 (Champagne, $282.95, Vintages #13529)
Light gold in colour; toasty, vanilla, apple nose; medium-bodied, crisply dry, toasty, beautifully balanced and full on the palate with a great mouth-feel. (97)
