3 | Wine | Fortified, Portugal, 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.'

"Cooked raspberry, with hints of lemon peel and leaf. Full-bodied and medium sweet, with a beautiful density and a sweet fruity and tannic aftertaste. Balanced yet muscular." 92-95 pts.

"Graham's 1991 Vintage Port gets my nod as the port of the vintage. While keeping in mind that Graham's aims for a sweeter-styled port, there is no doubting the opaque purple/black color, or the explosive nose of black fruits, licorice, spring flowers, and tar. Thick and full-bodied, with a satiny texture and a blockbuster, alcoholic finish, this is a top-notch vintage port."

"Violets, roses, spices, and candied dark fruits. ...emanate from the glass of the murky black/purple colored 2003 Graham Vintage Port. After four days of air, this wine’s aromatics sweetened further, displaying jammy blackberry and blueberry scents. Bold, full-bodied, and expansive, the Graham benefited the most from extensive contact with air of all the 2003s tasted for this report. This opulently jammy wine assaults the palate with powerful yet soft layers of oily, candied red fruits as well as notes of tar and hints of mocha. A highly concentrated effort, it is creamy textured, suave, and reveals an admirably long finish filled with additional layers of dark fruits intermingled with spices."

"Dry and bracing, like an ocean breeze, this exhibits toffee, grilled almond and iodine notes on a lively structure. It's balanced and long, picking up a walnut aftertaste on the finish. Very harmonious and clean."

"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."

"I love the nose on this, with blackberry, black licorice, and dark chocolate. Full-bodied, medium sweet and very, very dense. What seductive mouthfeel, with polished, round tannins that caress the palate." 95-98 pts.

"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.

"There's plenty of tannic power in this crisp style, offering flavors of raspberry and cherry that show notes of bittersweet chocolate and citrus, which extend on the dense finish."