The Exceptional 2011 Vintage Port: The Taylor Fladgate Partnership

The third stop during our visit to the Douro region was Quinta de Vargellas. The estate has been been making Port since the 1820s and is considered today to be one of the best vineyards in the the region.

In this video, James and Adrian Bridge -- head of The Taylor Fladgate Partnership, which owns Croft, Fonseca and Taylor's -- discuss the 2011 vintage as well as the present and future of Port wine. For Adrian, the hallmark of the 2011 vintage is its sumptuous fruit and delicate tannins. He believes that each vintage is unique and that comparison with older vintages before one's time is often inaccurate, as one was not there to taste the wine at a young age.

Adrian does think, however, that one can compare the aging capacity and development of different vintage Ports. While some vintages share characteristics, such as the opulence of fruit found in both the 1994 and 2011 vintages, each year has its own climatic conditions that viticulturally translate into different results. No two vintages are identical. What Adrian emphasizes is that even though young vintage Ports posses similar characteristics, in the long run, what defines them is their capacity to age.

Watch the rest of this fascinating discussion on what defines Port today and how its consumption has changed.

-JGAL