Did you know that during wartime in the past that Port wine was supplied to British armies and that Port was considered essential for soldiers’ morale? One of the largest supplier of port to the soldiers was Taylor Fladgate. It is with that in mind that the idea for a rare, Port wine Kingsman edition, was born between Taylor Fladgate Port and movie director Matthew Vaughn; recognising the shared values between Taylor Fladgate and Kingsman (King’s Man): a sense of heritage and tradition, legacy, an obsession with detail and extraordinary product quality. Also, the very British traits of humour, wit, elegance and style.
You may have seen the Kingsman’s first two movies, but there is a third movie, a prequel, that is tentatively scheduled for release in September 2021. The prequel is set 90-100 years back in time and considers how the first British secret service agents may have come to be. Director Vaughn is a port lover and wanted to have port in this film.
Taylor Fladgate is the world-leader in the production of aged Tawny Ports. They have around 10,000 barrels (casks) of port ageing any any one time, with the average age of the ports being 42 years. To make this Kingsman Edition Very Old Tawny port, 6 components (think 6 blends) from different time periods, were selected to make this special edition Tawny port. The oldest component comes from a blend with an average age of 100 years, which gives the richness to the port, while the youngest component comes from a blend around 70 years of age to provide freshness and balance. Any younger port would add too much fruit to the blend.
You may wonder how can Taylor Fladgate have a 100 year old Tawny port in barrel? Wouldn’t it all evaporate? Via Zoom meeting we were told by winemaker, David Guimaraens, that the evaporation of port wine from barrels is not linear. When the wine is still young the evaporation rate is about 3% per year, which concentrates the wine, making it thicker, sweeter, and concentrating the acidity. The thicker port wine will evaporate much slower, so a 100 year old Tawny port is indeed possible.
The Wine
The details about this Tawny Port from Taylor Fladgate:
Taylor Fladgate Very Old Tawny Port – Kingsman Edition is a very rare Tawny Port of great age matured for almost nine decades in hand-made seasoned oak casks. To create this exclusive limited edition, Taylor Fladgate agreed to release some rare and valuable wines from its extensive reserves of very old cask-aged Port laying in its cellars in
Oporto. These reserves include a small treasury of priceless, historically important wines each representing a very small volume. A few rare gems from this collection, only used in exceptional circumstances, were carefully selected by Taylor Fladgate’s expert blenders to produce the Kingsman Edition Port. The individual wines were then meticulously assembled, using Taylor Fladgate’s heritage of experience in the art of blending, and then left to marry together for several months in cask until the blend was judged to have reached its peak of balance and harmony. Presented in a 500ml bespoke crystal decanter with gold detailing and a luxurious presentation box, Taylor Fladgate Kingsman Edition Port was created not only for Kingsman devotees but also for connoisseurs and collectors of fine and rare wines around the world. A very limited number of 700 bottles have been produced.
The Bottle and My Tasting Notes
This port comes in a hand-blown bottle. There is the Royal Warrant on the neck of the bottle, indicating that Taylor Fladgate is an official port wine supplier to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. There is also hand painted gold lettering on the bottle. All top quality work to make a beautiful bottle, and comes in a handsome hand-crafted wooden case.
As part of this Zoom meeting to learn about this Taylor Fladgate Very Old Tawny Port – Kingsman Edition, I and a few other select media people in Canada were provided with a small sample of the port to taste, and to tell you about, in case you would like to purchase a bottle for your special wine collection.
Taylor Fladgate Very Old Tawny Port – Kingsman Edition
Appearance: a clear, medium-minus intensity tawny colour, translucent to the core, lighter at the rim. Prominent tears on the sides of the glass upon swirling.
Nose: A pronounced aged nose showing rich molasses and nuttiness, along with some butterscotch and a hint of citrus rind in the background.
Palate: It has a medium-plus body, round and very smooth. Medium-plus sweetness; not thick or cloying due to the vibrant acidity with this port. Molasses and butterscotch, vanilla and black pepper, mixed sweet spices and a hint of citrus rind in the background. The winemaker’s notes note a fleeting note of cedar and balsam on the palate, which to me shows up as citrus rind.
Finish: A long lingering finish, mellow flavours of molasses and vanilla and some black pepper. A fitting finish to this wine.
Rating: 
Where Can I Buy This Tawny Port?
There are 700 bottles made of this Tawny port to be sold around the world. Adrian Bridge, CEO, of the Fladgate Partnership indicated that there would be around 100 bottles to sell in Canada, but could be slightly more as they do have some additional bottles in reserve.
The bottles should be arriving in BC at the end of February. The BC Liquor Stores will be offering 3 bottles, Everything Wine in Langford will offer 3 bottles, and Everything Wine in Langley will offer 3 bottles for sale. The sku for this port is +66434. Please note that this is a 500ml bottle. The price has not yet been set to the best of my knowledge, but will be somewhere between $5500 and $6000.
