I allowed my glass of 1964 Taylor’s Very Old Single Harvest Port a couple of hours to open up in the glass, monitoring its evolution along the way. It is not a shy or retiring Port. Clear mahogany in color with a slight green tinge on the rim, the nose races out of the blocks like a young terrier let free in the garden, with intense aromas of grilled walnut, smoke, brown sugar, hints of caramel and a fug of alcohol that ebbs with time. The palate is smooth and honeyed on the entry, a very seductive Port wine, quite sumptuous in style, but with enough volatile lift to maintain fieriness toward the viscous finish. I speculate that had the 1963s not been so prodigious, Taylor Fladgate would have elected to follow their 1960 declaration with a 1964. That is all in the past. It is a delicious Vintage Port firing on all cylinders, ready to drink and enjoy now rather than cellar. - NEAL MARTIN

Properly old gold in color, this is a wine from a single year, aged in casks. It’s poised between amazing fruit and a wonderful velvet texture that is shot through with acidity. A feeling of lightness comes from the acidity that gives great freshness as well as complex flavors. It’s ready to drink.