Kim Uncorked: Welcome to my weekly wine recommendation.
Hi, I’m Kim, a passionate lover of wine, food, and any experience that brings the two together! In this weekly blog post, I share my thoughts on a wine that I’ve recently purchased from one of our local independent wine merchants. If you’d like to know more about me, I’ve included a brief bio following the post.
Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Tawny Port
Douro Valley, Portugal
Everything Wine
$44.99
Various locations
Vancouver, BC
This week’s wine recommendation is something a little different. As we move towards shorter days and cooler nights, it seems the perfect time to feature Taylor’s 10 Year Tawny Port.
Produced in Portugal’s Douro Valley, Port is made from the region’s indigenous red grape varieties, including Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz and Touriga Franca. It’s a sweet, fortified wine that’s perfect alongside dessert or enjoyed on its own as a wee treat on a damp afternoon.
Curious about how it’s made? During traditional red winemaking, yeast converts grape sugars into alcohol. Port retains its natural sweetness through the addition of grape spirit during fermentation, which halts the process, preserving residual sugar while raising the alcohol level.
Unlike Ruby Port, which retains its deep colour and fresh fruit character through ageing in large vessels, Tawny Port matures in small oak casks. Gradual exposure to oxygen develops its signature amber hues and complex flavours of dried fruit, toasted nuts, caramel and spice.
Taylor’s 10 Year Tawny is a blend of Ports aged in oak to achieve the distinctive character associated with a decade of maturation. Expect a beautiful brick-tawny colour, with aromas and flavours of ripe cherries, dried figs, roasted walnuts, butterscotch and subtle chocolate. Smooth and silky, it offers a lovely balance of fruit, nutty complexity and gentle spice.
Best served slightly chilled at around 12°C to 16°C, Tawny Port pairs beautifully with dark chocolate, blue cheese or rich desserts such as tiramisu and Black Forest cake. Once opened, store it in the fridge and enjoy it over the next couple of weeks.
Kim Mead is a Vancouver-based wine and food writer. She holds the WSET Level 3 Award in Wines with Merit, the French Wine Scholar designation with Honours, the Bordeaux Masters designation with Honours, and the Italian Wine Essentials certification. Kim serves as Cellar Master for the Vancouver chapter of the International Wine and Food Society and is a member of the Commanderie de Bordeaux. Follow her @agalandaglass
