Respected Port producer Taylor’s has collaborated with acclaimed filmmaker Matthew Vaughn in the release of a rare Port wine to celebrate 20th Century Studios’ upcoming film “The King’s Man” which will be released worldwide on February 12th, 2021.
Founded in 1692, Taylor’s is one of the oldest and most respected family-managed Port houses. Its wine makers and blenders draw on knowledge and skills passed down the generations over hundreds of years to ensure that Taylor’s Ports are made to the very highest standards. Taylor’s own vineyards, including the legendary Quinta de Vargellas, produce the famous Taylor’s Vintage Ports which are among the wines most highly valued and esteemed by connoisseurs and collectors of fine wines around the world.
Taylor’s also possesses one of the most extensive and valuable reserves of old cask-aged Ports maturing in the company’s cellars, known as ‘lodges’, in Oporto. Over the years, these reserves have allowed the company to release a number of very rare, limited edition Ports of great age including the latest addition, Taylor’s Very Old Kingsman Edition Port.
The idea for the rare, Port wine Kingsman edition was born between Taylor’s Port and director Matthew Vaughn; recognising the shared values between Taylor’s and Kingsman: 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.
Announcing the release, Taylor’s Managing Director Adrian Bridge, said:
“I am delighted by Taylor’s association with Matthew Vaughn’s latest Kingsman film, “The King’s Man”, with the release of a very rare Kingsman Edition Port. Taylor’s embodies many of the values portrayed in the Kingsman universe, including a respect for heritage and craftsmanship and a quintessentially British sense of style and flair.”
Bridge continued:
“This Taylor’s Limited Edition Port will not only appeal to Kingsman devotees, it is also an exceptional Port of great age which will grace the cellars of collectors and connoisseurs of fine and rare wines. Our blenders have used their skill and expertise to create a unique blend matured for almost nine decades in seasoned oak casks and displaying the multi-layered complexity which only Port can achieve.”
“This exciting project was a meeting of minds between Taylor’s and Matthew Vaughn. If I may use a tailoring expression, the link between Taylor’s and the Kingsman universe is clearly the perfect fit,” said Bridge.
For Matthew Vaughn the connection is equally clear:
“A true Kingsman will never forget to pass the Port to his left, but this Taylor-made vintage will certainly test his resolve…”
In the era portrayed in The King’s Man, Port Wine occupied a special place. By the time of the Great War, Port had become firmly established in British society as one of the finest of all wines, surrounded by a sense of ritual and a degree of reverence. It was not only in Britain that Port was held in high esteem; it was the favourite wine of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.
As an army officer and member of the aristocracy, the Duke of Oxford character seen in The King’s Man, would have been very familiar with Port. During the Great War, large quantities of Port were shipped to the British and French armies stationed at the front.
During the conflict, thousands of cases of Taylor’s Port were supplied to the British Army Canteens. The British government considered Port so essential for soldiers’ morale that it sometimes threatened to commandeer shipments and divert them to the army to avoid shortages.
Taylor’s Very Old Tawny – Kingsman Edition
The Wine
Taylor’s 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’s agreed to release some rare and valuable wines from is extensive reserves of very old cask aged Port lying 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’s expert blenders to produce the Kingsman Edition Port.
The individual wines were then meticulously assembled, using Taylor’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. With an average age of 90 years, this peerless wine has achieved a magical complexity during its long ageing in cask.
Some of the rare wines used in the blend were made in the 1930s under the shadow of the Great Depression. Significantly, they were produced from vines replanted after the Phylloxera pest had devastated many of the finest vineyards of the Douro Valley in the 1870s. Like western civilisation emerging from the devastation of the Great War, this immortal wine symbolises the recovery of the Douro vineyards from the greatest scourge ever to hit the world of wine.
This exclusive wine celebrates the principles which underlie the history and tradition of the house of Taylor’s and are also keynotes of the Kingsman legend. Among these are duty and determination, a respect for heritage and fine craftsmanship, coupled with a quintessentially British sense of understatement, elegance and style.
Presented in a bespoke crystal decanter with gold detailing and a luxurious presentation box, Taylor’s 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 and are available for purchase from leading wine merchants.
Tasting Notes
A deep mahogany brown core gradually fades through a halo of amber to a narrow rim of warm gold. After years in cask, Port develops an extraordinary multi-layered complexity unlike that of any other wine. This rare Port of great age is no exception. On the nose, the wine is seductive and intense, displaying multiple dimensions of opulent aroma. It opens with a rich confection of molasses and butterscotch, with notes of almond and dried fig, followed by a complex spicy redolence of vanilla, black pepper, nutmeg and cinnamon. Discreet scents of cedar and balsam emerge fleetingly in the background.
The first impression on the palate is of a smooth, velvety texture and impressive volume and density resulting from decades of cask ageing. On the mid palate, a crisp, vibrant acidity emerges making the wine appear fresher and more ethereal. Flowing through the palate from end to end is an undercurrent of rich, intense, concentrated butterscotch flavour. The wine has an extraordinarily long finish, leaving a lingering impression of complex, mellow aroma on the palate for long after the wine has been consumed.
“The King’s Man”
As a collection of history’s worst tyrants and criminal masterminds gather to plot a war to wipe out millions, one man must race against time to stop them. Discover the origins of the very first independent intelligence agency in “The King’s Man.”
“The King’s Man” is directed by Matthew Vaughn and stars Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Rhys Ifans, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Harris Dickinson, Daniel Brühl, with Djimon Hounsou, and Charles Dance.
Matthew Vaughn, David Reid and Adam Bohling are the producers, and Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons, Stephen Marks, Claudia Vaughn and Ralph Fiennes serve as executive producers. “The King’s Man” is based on the comic book “The Secret Service” by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, and the story is by Matthew Vaughn and the screenplay is by Matthew Vaughn & Karl Gajdusek. “The King’s Man” opens in U.S. theatres on February 12, 2021.
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