1 | Wine | Portugal, Porto, 91 to 95

"It is my opinion that Taylor's tawny ports are the best of their type. The Ten Year Old Tawny is a personal favorite, as well as the best bargain among these ports."

"It is my opinion that Taylor's tawny ports are the best of their type. Although I find the Thirty Year Old Tawny admirable, I prefer the richer, more vibrant Twenty Year Old Tawny.'

"Softly-textured and seductive. ...The complex aromatics of the opaque, black-colored 2003 Dow Vintage Port display chocolate, dried oak, black cherries, blackberries, copious spices, and a myriad flowers. This fresh, backward wine offers a medium to full-bodied, deeply concentrated core of spice-laced dark fruits....it boasts abundant layers of candied Damson plums, blueberries, black cherries, molasses, and hints of chocolate before revealing its firm structure."

"Green-edged tawny, like a maturing Madeira. Fabulously complex aromas of toasted marshmallow, fig, toffee, cinnamon and curry. A wine of great extract but much softer than the 30-year-old. A nutty, marzipan-like sweetness contributes to the wine's uncanny mellowness." Reviewed by Stephen Tanzer.

"This is black in color. Sweet berry and plum on the nose, with wet earth, pepper and leaf notes. Minerally. Full-bodied and medium sweet, with a solid core of tannins and a dense palate. Long and chewy, with a core of sweet fruit." 92-95 pts.

"A strikingly provocative aromatic display. This firmly-structured, classic, tightly-knit, restrained port exhibits brilliant purity as well as impressive intensity."

"Graham is another great port house, producing one of the deepest-colored and sweetest styles of vintage port. Along with Taylor and Fonseca, Graham has probably been the most consistent producer of great port in the post- World War II era. Their tawnys are quite good rather than exceptional, but their vintage ports are truly sublime and sumptuous."

"Dense ruby/purple-colored, with an exotic, exuberant perfume of black fruits, flowers, incense, and licorice, this unctuously-textured, full-bodied port is one of the most concentrated of the vintage. Sweet, expansive, and succulent, this large-scaled, but remarkably well-balanced effort is surprisingly forward and accessible (by Fonseca's standards)."

"Primary yet detailed nose offers crushed blackberry, black cherry, licorice, bitter chocolate, minerals and flowers. Pure, elegant and precise in the mouth, with terrific energy and thrust to the flavors of crushed black fruits and spices. Perhaps best today on the sharply focused, gripping, palate-staining finish, which shows a captivating gingerbread spiciness. This can be tasted now thanks to its intensity and sheer personality but is built to age." Reviewed by Stephen Tanzer.