Taylor's

Taylor's is one of the oldest and most established Port houses, founded in the late seventeenth century and based in Vila Nova de Gaia, with vineyards in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal. The house produces exclusively Port wine across the full spectrum of styles, from Vintage and Late Bottled Vintage to aged Tawnies.

Port is a fortified wine made predominantly from indigenous Portuguese grape varieties grown in the steep, schist-soiled terraces of the Douro Valley. Fermentation is arrested by the addition of neutral grape spirit, which preserves residual sugar and raises alcohol. The resulting wine is then aged either in large vats or small oak barrels depending on the style — bottle-aged styles like Vintage Port develop reductive complexity over decades, while cask-aged Tawnies such as a 30-year expression gain their amber colour and oxidative, nutty character through extended barrel contact.

The range available here illustrates the breadth of Port styles. Declared Vintage Ports from years such as 1994 and 2017 represent the house's assessment of exceptional harvests, bottled after two years in cask and intended for long cellaring. The Late Bottled Vintage offers a similar concept with greater approachability, while the 30-year Tawny represents a blended average age, offering complexity without the cellaring requirement of a Vintage.