Life begins at 50...for Taylor's Very Old Single Harvest 1964

27 May 2014

Taylor's Very Old Single Harvest 1964A 50 year-old bottling from one of the great port houses

Not many wines are released to the market when they are already 50 years old, but a tawny port is a special sort of drink. While vintage ports are released relatively early and need to do their ageing in bottle, tawnies do all their ageing in cask; when they are finally released, they are mature, mellow, fine and ready to drink.

Taylor's have now released their Single Harvest 1964 tawny. After 50 years of cask ageing, it is a complex, smooth drink with nutty, spiced fruit notes and a background character of butterscotch and molasses. There is both crisp acidity which keeps it attractively fresh, and an immensely long, lingering finish.

So, if you know anyone turning 50 this year, or if you just want to drink some liquid history from the year in which Harold Wilson beat Sir Alec Douglas-Home to become PM while the Beatles sang A Hard Day's Night and the Stones sang I Just Want to Make Love to You - then the Taylor's Very Old Single Harvest 1964 might be just the thing. /NT