Address: Rua do Choupelo n°250, 4400-088 Vila Nova de Gaia – Portugal
Phone: + 351 22 374 2800
Website: www.taylorfladgate.com

Taylor’s is over 300 years old and remains a family firm, completely independent, owned by relatives of the original partners. Taylor is accepted by most wine authorities to be the greatest of all port shippers, famous especially for its sublime and long-lived Vintage ports, which consistently fetch the highest prices at auction, and for old, distinguished Tawny ports.  Taylor ’s invites you to a pleasant and informative tour of its famous lodges at Vila Nova de Gaia. Afterwards, relax on the terrace, which has magnificent views over the city of Oporto and taste some of our renowned Ports. In addition to the tours, the Visitors’ Center has an attractive Wine Shop and a restaurant which is open for lunch and dinner.  Recently the Taylor 1992 was awarded a perfect 100 points from Robert Parker. The 1994 vintage also received 100 points and the Top Wine of the World award from the Wine Spectator.

The finest Port is produced from grapes grown on the steep and rocky slopes of the Upper Douro and its tributaries. Vines have been grown on these remote hillsides since pre-Roman times. In the 17th Century British traders, cut off from their supplies of Bordeaux by frequent wars with France, took a liking to the full-flavored, robust wines of Portugal. Under the Methuen Treaty of 1703, England granted lower duties to Portuguese wines than to those of France and Germany, becoming for over a century the principal market for the wines of the Douro Valley. But these wines did not travel well, so the traders added brandy to fortify them against the rigors of their Atlantic sea voyage. Before long pure grape spirit was added during fermentation and Port, as we drink it today, was created.

Among the first of the early traders was Job Bearsley, who by 1692 was a Port shipper and partner in the firm which we know today as Taylor Fladgate & Yeatman. His 4XX (an old woolmark) is still cut into the walls of the Casa dos Alambiques, where Taylor Fladgate have made wine from 1744 to this day-apart from its short break as a field hospital for Wellington’s troops. The 4XX mark still features on the company crest, and on every bottle. Now in its fourth century, the company is still thriving, with wine quality remaining the firm’s only consideration. Taylor Fladgate Port was, is, and will continue to be, one of the world’s greatest wines.

The distinctive character of Port does not come only from its method of production. Like that of every great classic wine, it is also born of an association of climate, soil and grape variety unique in the world. Separated from the sea by the Marão mountains and protected from the rainy winds of the Atlantic, the Douro valley has a climate of baking, dry summers and severe winters. It is a land of austere beauty.
 
The vineyards are dizzyingly steep: the vines must be planted on tiers of walled terraces, towering one above the other like the steps of the Pyramids, the product of centuries of Herculean labour. To make new terraces in this rocky terrain, dynamite is often needed to blast away great outcrops of schist, the slate-like stone which forms the bedrock of the Douro’s best vineyard soils. The vine roots can dive 40ft down through rock fissures in search of water, draining the very essence of the soil into every grape.

The Douro boasts a wealth of traditional grape varieties. Among the finest are the heavily-scented Tourigas-Touriga Nacional and Touriga Francesa-producing wine of enormous scale and concentration; the Tinta Roriz with its firm tannins and distinctive cedary nose; the supple, flowery Tinta Barroca; and the Tinta Cão, one of the oldest varieties cultivated in the Douro valley. Taylor’s were one of the earliest shippers to acquire vineyards to produce the wine themselves, rather than merely buying from wine-makers and then maturing it.

The famous Quinta de Vargellas, purchased between 1893 and 1896, is the jewel in the Taylor’s crown. This magnificent 164-hectare estate, in the wildest, highest country of the Douro, is the source of much of the wine for Taylor’s vintage Port. Set in a lovely bowl of vineyards sloping steeply down to the river, its north-facing site helps to moderate the fierce summer heat. Taylor’s later bought another outstanding estate, Quinta de Terra Feita, occupying a spectacular site on the slopes of the Pinhão valley. Taylor’s has extensively replanted this ancient property, bringing out the full potential of its 116 hectares of vineyard under vine which have supplied the firm with superb Ports for over a century.

In 1995 Taylor’s began an extensive Research & Development program, at Quinta de Vargellas, with a team of winemakers, technicians and engineers. Using piston technology in specially designed temperature controlled vats and with proportions similar to those of the lagar, Taylor’s have now built the most advanced winery in Portugal at Quinta da Nogueira. The ‘Port-Toes’, as they are know, are able to closely replicate foot treading and are producing high quality port wines.