I recently had the opportunity to go to Portugal. While, I was there, I enjoyed the beautiful weather and delicious food. One of my favorite cities was OPorto, it is the second biggest city after Lisbon, the capital. It is characterized by quaint cobble stone streets, old churches and buildings. It is cut in half by the Douro river. With seven bridges that connect the city. The Douro Valley is the birth place of Port Wine.
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| My Mom and I outside of Taylor's Winery |
The Taylor's Flagdate Winery is located across the Douro River in Vila Nova de Gaia, Oporto. It is located at the top of a hill, with beautiful views of the entire city. To the left is a picture of one of the bridges that connects the city. The garden at winery is magical. They have there own pet peacock, beautiful flowers, grape vines and numerous fountains. I wanted to sit outside all day, sip wine and enjoy the beautiful weather.
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| Peacock in the garden |
We walked in to "library" where they have oak tables and chairs along with the history of the Taylor brand. We enjoyed White Port: Chip dry before we started our tour.
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| My Parents and I enjoying our white port. |
We then took a group tour of the facility. The grapes are processed at another location then bought to the cellar for storage. The oak barrels that are used to store the wine are hundreds of years old and embark a distinct flavor of the wine. The wine is then bottled and stored for sale.
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The oak barrels that they store the wine in.
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To the bottom left are images of the wine making process. Starting with getting the land ready for planting to eventually storing the wine. We also learned about the differences between Vintage Port and Late Bottle Vintage. A vintage year happens once every ten years. It is when the grapes have the perfect weather and growing conditions. They are only kept in oak barrels for about two years then bottled and sold. Vintage's are typically aged by the consumer personally, to get out the wines flavors. A Late bottle Vintage, which are aged in oak barrels for twice as long! Then the wines are bottled and sold and ready for immediate consumption. We then headed back into the library room to try the other two Port Wines.
The Wines:
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| White Port |
-Chip Dry Extra Dry White: This wine was my least favorite. It was a beautiful golden color and there where still pieces of cork in my wine. It smelled fruity. However it was really dry. I was expecting it to be sweeter but was surprised and turned off. I wish that this wine was served chilled, instead it was served at room temperature. This may have made a difference in the taste.
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The LBV vs. Tawny
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-Late Bottled Vintage (LBV): Taylor's pioneered the late bottle vintage style of wine. This wine is filtered before it is bottled, therefore it does not age in the bottle. This wine was delicious. It was a deep purple color. It was sweet and aged to perfection. I could smell the fig and black current in the wine. This wine was initially a little dry, however it opened up in my mouth and let off sweet flavors, of raspberries and cherries. The finish was smooth and sweet leaving a pleasant after taste.
-Tawny (10 years old): This wine had to be my favorite wine of all!It was a amberish red color. The guide informed us that this wine was mixed with brandy. It had the sweetness of brandy, and the alcohol content was high. However, the alcohol was masked by the flavors of the wine. I got notes of chocolate and butterscotch, as well as berry. The "oak monster" did not come out in this wine. It was the perfect blend of oaky flavors. The wine had a long finish.
This was my first visit to a winery! Overall, I learned so much about the Portuguese Culture, the wine and the people! It was one of the highlights of my trip.
