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This is, to date, the greatest Vintage Port ever from here. It overwhelmed me years ago when I tasted it from barrel, but only now is it crossing gradually into its drinking window. The intensity is still mind-boggling here, with sweet-and-sour notes as well as mounds of clay. There are violets lurking somewhere too. A full-bodied, medium sweet and sublime Vintage Port, showing forest fruits and freshly picked blackberries on the palate in the form of a creamy, focused and tannic texture.James Suckling | 100 JSIn a word, superb. It’s full-bodied, moderately sweet and incredibly tannic, but there’s amazing finesse and refinement to the texture, not to mention fabulous, concentrated aromas of raspberries, violets and other flowers. Perhaps the greatest Taylor ever, it’s better than either the ’92 or the ’70, though it’s very like the ’70 in structure. Best after 2010. 10,000 cases made.Wine Spectator | 100 WSThis is very much in the mold of the 1992—maybe slightly less rich but just by a whisker. It’s dense without being heavy, with a beautifully spice-filled and long finish. Flavors of chocolate, mint and plum pudding linger elegantly for a few seconds longer than the ’92. Hold.Wine Enthusiast | 99 WEWhen tasting young vintage ports, Taylor is always the most backward. Yet potentially, it has the capability to be the most majestic. This classically made, opaque purple-colored wine is crammed with black fruits (blueberries and cassis). It reveals high tannin and a reserved style, but it is enormously constituted with massive body, a formidable mid-palate, and exceptional length. It is a young, rich, powerful Taylor that will require 10-15 years of aging. Compared to the more flashy, forward style of the 1992, the 1994 has more in common with such vintages as 1977 and 1970. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2045.Robert Parker | 97 RPStill sullen on the nose, the underlying ripeness has more to give. The palate is fine, with linear fruit – not as rich or voluptuous as some, with good definition leading to a firm finish. Not big, but powerful with lovely purity on the finish. Needs time to show at its best. Drinking Window 2029 - 2050.Decanter | 95 DEC(Taylor Fladgate) The 1994 vintage of Taylor is a huge and powerful wine, but it does not possess quite the same vivid freshness of my very favorite vintages in the last several decades. Perhaps this is just a stage that the wine is in today, but amongst the fine troika of vintage Taylors from the 1990s, I have to give a slight nod to the remarkably refined and hauntingly brilliant 1992 Taylor over the larger-scaled 1994. The very powerful bouquet on the ’94 offers up a mix of intense cassis, plum, chocolate, licorice, tar, and a huge base of earth. On the palate the wine is full-bodied and quite closed on the attack, with a huge, rock solid core of fruit, firm, well-covered tannins, great soil inflection, and an impressive brightness on the finish that is not evident on the nose today. If this is simply a dumb stage for the wine, then my score will prove to be conservative. (Drink between 2025-2075)John Gilman | 94 JG

Inky purple in color, this youngest Taylor vintage Port boasts a floral, wonderfully open and appealing bouquet, backed by layers of rich fruit. What makes this wine extra special is the seductive texture—somewhere between creamy and syrupy—and ample length.Wine Enthusiast | 97 WEThe 2003 vintage surrounds Taylor’s classically hard-core iron grip with fruit that’s generous, succulent and rich. The aromas of violets and spice seem to rise out of a blast of black rock, the muscular tannin inseparable from the fresh fruit. Though the ripeness and richness of the vintage tends to blur many of the distinctions among the best Ports, the relatively dry style of Taylor stands out, the extreme power of its structure bringing to mind a wrought iron fence stretching off into the distance. Winemaker David Guimaraens describes 2003 as a concentrating year, and points to 1966 as a parallel to the vintage. Likely the longest lived of the ’03s, this should be drinking best from 2033 through 2055, then mature into a firm old age for decades after.Wine & Spirits | 96 W&SThe 2003 Taylor’s has a lovely ripe, primal bouquet of blackberry, raspberry, vanilla and marmalade that shows slightly better delineation than the Fonseca. The palate is medium-bodied with very composed, refined tannins that belie the heat of that summer. There is wonderful focus here and fine tension, the finish offering precise notes of black cherries, mulberry, cloves and white pepper. This is one of the finest Ports of a precocious vintage. Tasted May 2013.Robert Parker Neal Martin | 95 RP-NMLovely aromas of currants, blackberries and licorice. Full-bodied, with medium sweetness and layers of ripe, round, velvety tannins. Flavorful finish. More round and refined than from barrel. Best after 2014.Wine Spectator | 94 WSBright, saturated ruby. Vibrant, pure aromas of blackberry, violet and bitter chocolate. Juicy, minerally, precise and penetrating, but quite primary and unevolved today. Shows strong but integrated acidity and a tight kernel of fruit. Best today on the slow-building, rising, aristocratic finish. But today the wine’s tannins are less obvious than its acids. This seems distinctly less ripe and chewy than the great 2000 Taylor’s but it’s still extremely unevolved. Latour-like in its structure and reserve.Vinous Media | 93+ VM