Porto Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas Vintage 2012

Wineadvocate

The 2012 Quinta de Vargellas Port, a typical Douro blend, was aged in large French oak vats for 24 months and bottled in 2014. It comes in at 103 grams per liter of residual sugar. This opens steely and gripping, with fine acidity, firmness on the finish and enough concentration in this lighter-styled vintage. The best of the trio submitted by Taylor Fladgate this issue, it does everything well and mostly exceeds expectations. It more or less combines a bit of the initial power displayed by the Fonseca and the expressiveness of the Croft, and adds silky texture, gloriously fresh fruit and fine flavor. It will need a little patience, but it will also be rather hard to keep your hands off of it. The good news is that it did seem to come around surprisingly fast, becoming a bit less impressive than on first impression. By Day 3, it was quite accessible and it drank fairly well. I still liked it a lot. - MS 04/2015

Vinous

Deep, bright medium ruby. Wild aromas of cassis, exotic flowers and Asian spices show a youthfully medicinal cast. Plush, sweet and utterly seamless, showing outstanding inner-mouth aromatic character to its dense dark fruit and floral flavors. Boasts a near-perfect balance of sweetness and sheer power thanks to its great supporting structure. The palate-staining finish features outstanding floral lift. This wonderfully fresh port should go on for decades but it's shockingly sexy right now.-