Taylor’s celebrates first port wine in space

Taylor’s is celebrating the first trip by a Port Wine into space with a limited-edition ‘galactic-inspired’ gift box of its 2003 Vintage Port.

The packaging follows Taylor’s 2003 becoming the first port to break through the Earth’s atmosphere and enter space in August 2022, accompanying Portuguese businessman and entrepreneur Mário Ferreira.

Enclosed in a specially-designed 50cl container sealed with natural cork, the bottle of Taylor’s 2003 Vintage Port travelled to an altitude of 107 kilometres above mean sea level.

Sourced from two of Taylor’s vineyards in the Douro — Quinta de Vargellas and Quinta de Terra Feita — the grapes from these two sites come together when a classic vintage is declared. The 2003 vintage was blessed with bright warm weather at the end of May, which supported successful flowering in the vineyards, and was further buoyed by intense summer heat in early August, which often heralds a great port vintage. With cooler temperatures in late August followed by a warm and dry picking season in September, the growing conditions ensured balance and complexity in the resulting wines.

The Vintage Port is sourced directly from Taylor’s cellars and aims with its new ‘star-studded’ packaging to either be presented as a 21st birthday present next year, or to be added to a cellar as a reminder of a historic moment for Vintage Port.

Reflecting on the historic significance of the mission, Taylor’s CEO Adrian Bridge said the particular Port Wine was ‘an excellent choice and the perfect vintage with which to explore new frontiers’.

He said: ‘The Taylor’s 2003 Vintage is one of the most highly acclaimed Port Wines of recent decades – a monumental Vintage which, to quote celebrated wine authority Robert Parker, will stand proudly shoulder to shoulder with the finest ever crafted by Taylor’s’.