Taylor’s to bottle Quinta de Vargellas Vintage 2020
Taylor’s releases Quinta de Vargellas Vintage 2020. Commenting on the announcement, Taylor’s Managing Director, Adrian Bridge said: “We are delighted with the Taylor’s Quinta de Vargellas Vintage 2020 which shows the elegance and structure that we associate with this excellent property.” He adds: “This Vintage will remain in our cellars and will be released at a later date, thus satisfying the future demand for Single Quinta Vintage Ports.”
For David Guimaraens, Taylor’s Head Winemaker: “Two months marked the whole of 2020: February, was dry and very warm, which resulted in very low clusters and July was extremely hot (+ 3.5ºC above the average), with no living memory of such a hot July. The low volume of bunches and the repeated phenomenon of ‘scorching’ marked the year. The month of August was cooler than usual, but rain from the 17th to the 20th and the replacement of very hot weather caused an acceleration in the ripening of the grapes, which forced the harvest to speed up throughout the valley.” And he points out: “The variability of locations in the mountain viticulture of the Douro Valley plays a key role in extreme years like this, allowing the production of excellent Port wines as is the case of this Quinta de Vargellas 2020.”
The wines of Quinta de Vargellas traditionally form the ‘backbone’ of the ‘classic’ Taylor‘s Vintage Port. This estate, recognized as one of the world’s finest vineyards, was acquired by Taylor’s in 1893, although its reputation as a source of the finest ports dates back to the 1820’s. Located in the remote eastern reaches of the Douro Valley, Vargellas is known for its elegant, scented wines, with their fine focused fruit and well-integrated sinewy tannins.