FLOAT 100 · Wine · No. 81
Taylor's Vintage Port 2017
Picking at Taylor's Quinta de Vargellas began on September 1, 2017, the earliest since the legendary 1945, and the wine it made broke a 139-year habit: the house declared a second classic vintage in a row.
- Maker
- Taylor Fladgate
- By price in wine
- 100 of 100
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Create a free account- Producer
- Taylor Fladgate (Taylor's), Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal, founded 1692
- Wine
- Classic Vintage Port, 2017
- Vineyards
- Quinta de Vargellas, Quinta de Terra Feita and Quinta do Junco, Douro Valley
- Grapes
- Field blend of Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinto Cao, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca and other old varieties
- Method
- Foot-trodden; fermentation stopped with grape spirit
- Aging
- About two years in large oak vats; bottled unfiltered
- Alcohol
- 20%
- Residual sugar
- 100 grams per liter, per one critic
- Declared
- April 23, 2019
One of the oldest port houses
Taylor's was founded in 1692 in Vila Nova de Gaia by Job Bearsley. It took its full name, Taylor, Fladgate & Yeatman, after Joseph Taylor, John Alexander Fladgate and Morgan Yeatman formed a partnership in 1838. It is one of the oldest and largest port houses, and the group that owns it also owns Fonseca, Croft, Krohn and Delaforce.
The house is credited with inventing late-bottled vintage port. Its top wine, though, is the classic vintage port, made only in years the house judges good enough and announced by a formal declaration. By house custom the declaration is made on April 23.
Taylor's vintage ports are built around Quinta de Vargellas, a remote 164-hectare estate in the Douro Superior with 68 hectares of vines, set in a north-facing amphitheater. The house credits Vargellas with the violet scent that marks its ports. Two estates in the Pinhao valley, Terra Feita and Junco, complete the blend.
The earliest harvest since 1945
The 2017 season followed a wet 2016. The winter was cold and dry, with a fifth less rain than the 30-year average, and budburst came early, around March 10. A warm April and May drove the vines on, and the first three weeks of June were so hot that new bunches were damaged in some parts of the Douro. Veraison arrived around June 18, a month earlier than the year before.
Apart from some thunderstorms in early July, it stayed dry until the end of September, though temperatures through much of the ripening season were moderate. The grapes ripened very early with high sugar. Picking at Vargellas started on September 1. The last time picking had begun so early was in 1945, one of the great vintages of the 20th century, when the first fruit came in on September 3.
Harvest temperatures were mild and the nights cool. The house says the musts were dense, with exceptional depth of color, and the high sugar led to longer fermentations and very effective extraction of color.
How it is made
All the grapes for Taylor's classic vintage are trodden by foot, a method the house says gives just the right level of extraction. The traditional varieties are fermented together rather than separately. Partway through fermentation, grape spirit is added to stop it, leaving natural sweetness; one critic recorded 100 grams per liter of residual sugar in the final blend.
The wine spends about two years in large oak vats before it is bottled without filtering. It throws a heavy deposit as it ages, so it has to be stood upright and decanted, and the house says it continues to improve for decades.
Back-to-back declarations
On April 23, 2019, Taylor's declared 2017 a classic vintage. It had already declared 2016, and before that it had not declared two consecutive vintages since 1880 and 1881, 139 years earlier. When it declared 2018 as well, it was the first time in the company's history that three vintages in a row had been declared. Alongside the 2017 it announced a Vargellas Vinha Velha, from the estate's oldest vines, only the eighth ever released.
Critics placed it among the best wines of the year. James Suckling gave it 99 points, Wine Advocate 98 to 100, Neal Martin of Vinous 98, and Wine Spectator and Wine Enthusiast 97 each; Jancis Robinson's site scored it 18.5 out of 20. Wine Advocate's Mark Squires called it a step up, or two, on the 2016 and potentially a great Taylor's. Wine Spectator's James Molesworth expected it to be among the longer-lived wines of the vintage and suggested drinking it from 2035 through 2060. A 2020 review compared the 2016 to a Ferrari and the 2017 to a top-of-the-line Range Rover, richer and bigger and needing long cellaring.
Where it trades
Taylor's classic vintage is made in larger quantities than most collectible wines, and it is widely available. In October 2026 a U.S. merchant listed a 750 ml bottle of the 2017 at $94.99, marked down from $119.99.
The numbers
- Vineyards
- Vargellas (164 ha estate, 68 ha planted), Terra Feita, Junco
- Harvest
- Began September 1, 2017, at Vargellas, the earliest since 1945
- Alcohol
- 20%
- James Suckling
- 99
- Wine Advocate
- 98-100
- Vinous (Neal Martin)
- 98
- Wine Spectator / Wine Enthusiast
- 97 each
- Jancis Robinson
- 18.5/20
Timeline
Job Bearsley founds the house in Vila Nova de Gaia.
Joseph Taylor, John Alexander Fladgate and Morgan Yeatman form the partnership that names the house.
The last time, before 2017, that Taylor's declares a second vintage in a row.
Picking starts on September 3, the previous early record for a great vintage.
Budburst comes early after a cold, dry winter.
Veraison arrives, a month earlier than in 2016.
Picking begins at Quinta de Vargellas, the earliest since 1945.
Taylor's declares 2017 a classic vintage, plus a Vargellas Vinha Velha.
Critics review the 2016, 2017 and 2018 together as the first trio of consecutive declarations in the house's history.
A U.S. merchant lists a bottle at $94.99.
The world in 2017
The United Kingdom triggers Article 50 to begin leaving the European Union.
Emmanuel Macron is elected president of France.
A bombing at a concert in Manchester kills 22 people.
A total solar eclipse crosses the entire contiguous United States.
Hurricane Harvey strikes Texas.
The Cassini spacecraft ends its mission by diving into Saturn.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | $95 | Asking price, not a saleRetail asking price for one 750 ml bottle at a U.S. merchant (regular price shown as $119.99). Not a sale. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, Taylor's Vintage Port 2017 is number 100 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (81 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- By house custom, Taylor's announces its vintage declarations on April 23.
- Before 2017, Taylor's had not declared two vintages in a row since 1880 and 1881.
- The 2017 harvest at Vargellas started two days earlier than in 1945, one of the century's great years.
- Every grape in Taylor's classic vintage is crushed by foot.
- The house is credited with inventing late-bottled vintage port.
- Taylor's was founded in 1692, more than 80 years before American independence.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026