Taylor Fladgate 50 Year Old Tawny “Golden Age”

Winery Background and History

Taylor Fladgate (Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman) is a historic Port house founded in 1692 in Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal. Over centuries, the house built a masterful arsenal of aged port stocks and refined blends, and the Golden Age 50 Year Old Tawny is their flagship age-statement tawny, intended to celebrate a half-century of elegant oxidative maturation.

Producer and Wine Maker

The wine is produced by Taylor Fladgate’s blending and aging team. They select rare wood-aged port lots matured for decades, especially from eastern Douro vineyards, and age them in seasoned oak casks. The team monitors oxidative development, balances residual sugar, and blends the final product to achieve harmony, complexity and consistency in the house style.

Vineyards and Micro Climate

The component wines derive from vineyards in the Douro Valley’s eastern zones, notably Cima Corgo and Douro Superior. These zones are known for their schist soils, steep terraces, hot dry summers, cool nights, and high concentration potential. The long aging in oak, in Taylor’s cellars in Gaia, further tempers oxidation while retaining vibrancy.

Vinification & Aging Methods

The base wine is vinified as standard Port: fermentation is partially completed then halted by fortification with grape spirit, preserving residual sugars. The wine is then aged oxidatively in oak casks for approx. 50 years in total, in seasoned oak that was specially selected to house the long maturation. After this extensive wood aging, the lots are blended into this 50-year age-statement expression (Golden Age).

Tasting Notes

The wine presents a chestnut / copper core with a lighter golden rim. Aromas are elegant and delicate: rum, raisin, clove, nutmeg, prunes, quince, apricot, and subtle cracked pepper. Palate reveals toasted coconut, almonds, butterscotch, scorched pineapple, passion fruit, orange zest, and hints of lychee. The texture is silky, weighty yet fresh, and it finishes bright and poised with lingering complexity. 

Food & Wine Pairing

Pairs excellently with nut desserts (almond tart, pecan pie), dried fruits, crème brûlée, caramel or toffee sweets. Also pairs well with blue cheese, aged hard cheeses, or simply enjoyed as a contemplative digestif.

Service Methods and Temperatures

Serve slightly chilled: approximately 12 °C to 16 °C. Use a port glass or small red wine glass to concentrate aromas. Decanting is not generally required; this style is filtered and free of sediment.

Storage and Aging Potential

Because this wine is already aged for 50 years, further bottle aging has limited transformative effect. Under good conditions (cool, upright, stable, out of light), it should remain elegant and stable for many more years. Once opened, best consumed over weeks to retain freshness.

Grape Varietals & Percentage Used

A blend of traditional Douro red varieties, including Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, among others. Exact proportions are proprietary. 

ABV (Alcohol by Volume)

20 % 

Scores

• 96 points — Wine Spectator 

• 97 points — Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate