Wine Advocate (97)

Now with a couple years in bottle, I am erring to the Taylor’s over the Fonseca (although these can always change!) The Taylor’s show more delineation and refinement with pure black currant, cassis, pencil box, hints of marzipan and a hint of dark chocolate. The palate is full-bodied and sumptuous with super-fine tannins, very pure blackberry and boysenberry notes interlaced with cedar, dried fig and a touch of black pepper on the beautifully refined finish. Excellent.

Wine Advocate (97)

Now with a couple years in bottle, I am erring to the Taylor’s over the Fonseca (although these can always change!) The Taylor’s show more delineation and refinement with pure black currant, cassis, pencil box, hints of marzipan and a hint of dark chocolate. The palate is full-bodied and sumptuous with super-fine tannins, very pure blackberry and boysenberry notes interlaced with cedar, dried fig and a touch of black pepper on the beautifully refined finish. Excellent.

Jancis Robinson (19.5)

This wine was placed immediately after the super-opulent Fonseca in the BFT tasting which may have been a mistake. This is restrained. Well mannered, discreet, keeps its powder very dry. But on the palate it opens out in the most superb, burgundian peacock's tail sort of way. Another wonderful wine from The Fladgate Partnership. Utterly different from the Fonseca. Upright and straight backed. But irreproachable. My gums are virtually impervious to sugar and acid but this wine set them vibrating a bit. Dried prunes ground up with rocks.

James Suckling (100)

OMG. This is really the most amazing young Taylor's I have ever tasted. Full-bodied and lightly sweet with super power and intensity. So racy and focused. Yet this has such muscle and intensity. Needs at least eight years to show you everything it has to offer. Drink in 2025.

James Suckling (100)

OMG. This is really the most amazing young Taylor's I have ever tasted. Full-bodied and lightly sweet with super power and intensity. So racy and focused. Yet this has such muscle and intensity. Needs at least eight years to show you everything it has to offer. Drink in 2025.

Richard Mayson (19.5)

A ‘classic’ declaration from Taylor’s: a blend from Quinta de Vargellas in the Douro Superior (‘the backbone’) and Quintas Terra Feita and Junco in the Pinhão Valley. Deep, scented (violets and esteva or gum cistus), minty too, restrained but already quite expressive; lovely pure mint and berry fruit backed by fine grained tannins which rise in the mouth to a long, level, linear finish. Not especially big but beautifully poised and very elegant. This has all the qualities of a long term keeper. It is already magnificent and will be even more so in 15 to 20 years.

Wine Advocate (100)

The 2017 Quinta de Vargellas Vinha Velha Vintage Port is a field blend of typical grapes (like Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca) aged for 20 months in French wood. It comes in with 105 grams of residual sugar. When last seen, this was only a tank sample. A darker flavor profile than the regular Taylor's, more leaning to plums and blackberries, this shows all that great Taylor's fruit and welds it to a serious backbone. The regular Taylor's seems a bit brighter, while this seems a bit sterner and richer, but at this point in their very young lives, I am not sure there is a lot to choose from qualitatively. That may change, in favor of this, I think, as they go further into their very long lives. Today, there isn't much to separate them except style and price. I'd take this, both for the style and the upside potential, but the price spike is certainly worth noting for many, while the qualitative difference is nominal.

Jancis Robinson (17.5)

Blackish crimson with medium rim. Heady and ripe on the nose. Subtle and savoury. Satin-smooth palate entry and a very dry end but really exciting and herbal in the middle. Very much in the Taylor's idiom. Neat and ambitious.

Wine Orbit (96)

Revealing elegance and sophistication, the engaging bouquet shows Black Doris plum, dark cherry, warm spice and toasted nut characters with nuances of truffle and floral. The palate displays outstanding concentration and focus, while offering rich texture and expansive mouthfeel, superbly framed by loads of fine, polished tannins. Multi-layered and magnificently flowing to an impressively long silky finish. The wine is gloriously composed and expressed, promising to evolve gracefully. The wine exhibits classic Te Mata elegance, freshness and refinement within a perfectly formed structure.

Wine Front (94)

Violet, bay leaf, black fruit, almost liquorice, mocha, baking spices and cedar. Medium bodied, black fruit laced with liquorice and tobacco, a fleshy mass of tannin and dark chocolate, cool clean acidity, and very long fi nish, all black tea and perfume in the aftertaste. Chewy satisfaction and a little fl amboyance in every mouthful. Love this.

Vinous (95)

Initially tight as a monkey's nuts, the very young 2020 Awatea needs time to open up and reveal its creamy, seductive personality. Tasted alongside the already impressive 2019 Awatea, the 2020 goes a step further in its substance, depth and ripeness. It has a rich mid-palate of sweet black currant, black olives and mint, but it's all tremendously creamy. Underneath the lush exterior, an abundance of fine yet structured powdery tannins combine with fine acidity to provide the architecture for this intense wine. Offering excellent persistence, structure and scent, the 2020 has knocked it out of the park. Best Awatea ever? You might be looking at it.

Wine Orbit (97)

Offering harmony and structure within an opulent framed of rich fruit and silky tannins, this is a gratifying red offering awesome value. The enticing bouquet shows blackcurrant, mulberry, tobacco and cedary oak characters with a delicate floral overtone. The palate displays amazing depth and persistency, wonderfully complemented by delectable fruit flavours with spicy nuances. Tannins are fine, mouth-coating and just right, making it structured and seamless at the same time.

Huon Hooke (97)

Deep purple/red colour with complex spice aromas. The palate is powerful, deep and very long-lasting, with ample soft supple tannins which persist. Superb richness, flesh and fruit sweetness balanced by great structure. Very impressive.

Wine Orbit (98)

This is brimming with gorgeous aromas of Black Doris plum, violet, warm spice and toasted almond on the nose, leading to a concentrated palate offering a rich texture and plush mouthfeel. It’s powerful and imposing while remaining gracious and captivating, beautifully framed by fine grainy tannins, finishing persistent and immensely satisfying.

Bob Campbell MW (98)

Bright, youthful blended red of cabernet sauvignon (52%), merlot (33%) and cabernet franc (15%). This is classic Coleraine with cassis, cedar, floral, blueberry, a suggestion of wood-smoke, anise and spicy oak flavours. Terrific depth and an exquisite balance between fruit sweetness and acid/tannin structure. It will be a long-distance runner.

Wine Orbit (100)

Destined for a long life, this majestic offering shows cassis, dark plum, hint of tobacco, cedar and floral aromas on the nose. The palate is packed with rich fruit intensity combined with layers of silky texture and complex flavours, wonderfully supported by perfectly pitched chalky tannins, making it sturdy and structured with a seemingly endless finish. Flawless and spellbinding. A blend of 59 cabernet sauvignon, 37% merlot & 4% cabernet franc. At its best: 2029 to 2049.

Wine Orbit (100)

This is solidly built yet fine and flawless with cassis, scented floral, olive, cake spice and stylish oak aromas on the nose. The powerfully concentrated palate offers dazzling clarity of fruit purity as well as astonishing complexity, brilliantly structured by perfectly pitched chalky tannins. Beautifully layered with formidable depth and seductive texture, making this rendition of Coleraine undeniably spellbinding.

Wine Orbit (100)

The 2021 Coleraine exhibits a commanding presence and majestic poise. The bouquet reveals classic aromas of cassis, dark plum and violet with whispering nuances of cedar and cigar. There are hints of warm spices, compounding the pleasure upon inhalation. The palate is bold and graceful at once, enhanced by plush texture and multi-layered mouthfeel, beautifully framed by refreshing acidity and fine chalky tannins. Robust and substantial with a great line and length, which seem to go on to infinity. This youthful wine is already impossible to resist, but time will reward those who can wait. In sports, they often talk about ‘The Greatest of All Time’, or 'The GOAT'. This 2021 Coleraine is undeniably THE GOAT of New Zealand wine.

Sam Kim Wine Orbit (100)

No tasting note available.

Raymond Chan (20)

Dark, deep, black-hued ruby-red colour, a little lighter on the rim. The nose is softly fulland voluminous with a very deep and finely with concentrated core with an array of aromatics, showing beautifully ripened blackberry fruit entwined with dark raspberries, harmoniously layered with an array of dark-red and violet florals, together with exotic Asian spice elements, nuances of dark herbs, and a suggestion of black pepper. This has an amazing range of fragrances and aromatics that are expressed without showiness, but plenty of style and harmony. Medium-bodied, the palate is mouthfilling with refined, plush and sweetly rich, ripe and succulent fruit flavours of blackberries and dark raspberries, hints of plums and liquorice, unfolding layers of dark-red and violet florals with exotic spices. This is multi-dimensional and multi faceted in expression. Te fruit is supported by the very finest powdery tannins, but with considerable extract, structure and presence, but is is no way overbearing. The acidity is harmoniously integrated, and the wine carries to a sustained finish of richness. This is a beautifully harmonious and multi-dimensional and complex detailed Syrah of great beauty, finesse and fragrance. Match with the best lamb, beef and venison dishes over the next 10-15 years. 100% Syrah, predominantly MS clone from 20 y.o. vines in the Gimblett Gravels with the inclusion of a small amount of new clone material from hillside plantings behind the winery on Roys Hill (officially not part of the Gimblett Gravels). Fruit all hand-picked, foot-stomped and fermented with 30% whole bunches on average (some lots 100%), adding Viognier skins to 13.0% alc., the wine spending on average 30 days on skins, and aged 15 months in predominantly new French oak barriques and a portion in 5,000 L oak ovals.

Matthew Jukes (19)

The 2017 Homage is a sensational wine, garnering a mighty 19/20 score in my notes and it arrives in the UK this week. No other wine came close to this mark and yet who’d have thought this possible if you digest this wine’s vital statistics? This is a 96% syrah, 4% viognier skins, partial whole bunch, 100% new oak, 12.5% alcohol conundrum and it is bafflingly sublime. Winemakers Warren Gibson and Damian Fischer have turned what could have been a disaster into a work of sheer beauty. “Homage” pays tribute to the late Gérard Jaboulet, who passed away at only 55 years of age back in 1997. I am sure that the man behind the iconic Syrah Hermitage La Chapelle would be bowled over by this extraordinary Trinity Hill creation and would be honoured by the tribute

Andrew Caillard MW (98)

Medium deep crimson. Beautiful pure raspberry strawberry red cherry aromas with espresso/ sage/ white pepper notes. Inky textured wine with dense concentrated raspberry pastille, strawberry fruits, fine silky tannins and roasted chestnut espresso oak. Finishes chalky al dente firm with lovely mineral length and feathery tannin plume.

The Real Review (97)

Intense yet surprisingly accessible red with cassis, blackberry, cedar, vanilla, black cherry, and spicy French oak flavours. Powerful yet elegant wine with strong varietal identity. Should develop well with bottle age.

Wine Advocate (86)

This house makes rather restrained yet rich, flavorful vintage port and a very good tawny called Nimrod. Their vintage ports seem slow to develop, and while they never quite have the voluptuous richness of a Dow, Graham, or Fonseca, they have a unique mineral-scented character that gives them their own complexity and style. The1975 is soft, supple and clearly mature.