1977 Graham Vintage Port

[Glenn E.]

Opened for the April/May Virtual Tasting. Also qualifies as April #1 for my New Year's Port Resolution. When decanted there was almost no sediment (free pour by hand), but the sediment came out when I rinsed the bottle. The rinse water and sediment had a distinctly more violet/blue color than normal, which I would call more purple/magenta.

TN started from the quality control sample, updated after 6 hours in decanter, and then again after 10 hours in decanter.

1977 Graham VP

Color: Deep ruby and garnet. Pink or light ruby at the rim.

Nose: Soft, ripe strawberry and some sweet red raspberry. Some indistinct stone fruit as well... not quite plum or date, but something like that. There's alcohol that is slowly receding with time in the decanter. No sign of VA.

Palate: Silky, lush texture in the mouth. Round and rich fruit flavors. A slight rough edge in the mid and late palate initially evened out with time in the decanter. Still has some decent tannins, though the structure is converting over to be more acidity based than tannins based at this point. The acidity is strong and easily keeps the sugars in balance. That same indistinct stone fruit impression from the nose is present on the palate as well.

Finish: Best described as adequate. It's not particularly long, but it also doesn't feel clipped. Some warmth, echoes of the fruits from the palate, and then ultimately some apple skin as it tails off. Pleasant while it lasts.

Score: 92 points. I feel stingy giving it this score, but I also need to re-calibrate because I've been fairly generous lately. 92 is an excellent Port, which fits what I'm drinking. A longer finish would help, as would less alcohol on the nose and even a touch less heat on the palate. None of these quibbles actually detract, but are enough to prevent it from scoring higher.