1980 Graham's Vintage Port

[Glenn E.]

Decanted at noon on Christmas Day for drinking after dinner, which is scheduled for 4:30 pm.

1980 Graham's Vintage Port

The cork extracted in one piece. It is soaked through, but still legible.

It is an understated purple in color, with tendencies toward red. The stream as it is being decanted takes on a pinkish hue, which is fairly normal. There seems to be considerable fine sediment in the bottle, because it is not translucent in the decanter but also not what I would call cloudy.

I poured the dregs into a lowball as is my custom and let it sit for about 45 minutes to settle. A fairly impressive layer of very fine sediment collected on the bottom of the glass, yet the Port is still not clear in the glass.

It smells of blackberries and black currants, with some raspberry thrown in for balance. There is a little bit of minerality, and if you breath deeply into your nasal cavity a strong impression of concord grapes emerges.

The first taste brings heat and sour cherries. Some chocolate tries to appear but doesn't quite make it all the way. There is a coarse feeling of extremely fine grit-like sediment, but it's not too distracting. (It's just not velvety smooth.) The alcohol becomes more prominent as you swallow, going from "heat" to an actual flavor of alcohol. As that transitions into the finish there is considerable grape stem.

This is definitely going to need several hours... hopefully it will be ready to drink after dinner. More then.

+7 hours - the alcohol has faded a bit, but there is still quite a bit of heat. The sour cherry intro has mellowed, though it is still present, and it is now backed up by big black fruits. The tannins are still quite gripping, and the finish is dominated by grape stem, which leads me to conclude that this Port needs another decade in bottle.

The fine gritty sediment seems to have mostly settled out, which is strange because the bottle had been sitting upright and still for about a week before it was decanted.

There are some leftovers, and provided I don't drink them myself during the day tomorrow I'll be taking the remains over to Roy's house for a small gathering.

+30 hours - It's still purple in the glass, fading to red and then finally pink at the rim. The rich aroma of blackberries is still dominant on the nose, but the raspberries have been replaced by some mildly stewed strawberries. The very fine sediment seems to have mostly settled out at this point, which greatly improves the mouth feel. It's not velvety or anything, but it's no longer coarse either. The tannins are still strong, but much softer than before so (for me) the Port is now much more drinkable. The heat has also dropped a notch or two even though it is still very much present. There's a slight sour cherry note present as well.

The finish now starts off with a rich butter cookie feel, but then rapidly changes to grape stem.

Seems to me that this Port could use another 10 years of aging in the bottle... it just doesn't seem ready yet.

[Roy Hersh]

I finished this off last night with Stewart. It was showing better than on Friday night and was less spirity and in better balance. Definitely still a youngster.

[Todd Pettinger]

The tannins are still quite gripping, and the finish is dominated by grape stem, which leads me to conclude that this Port needs another decade in bottle.

Seems to me that this Port could use another 10 years of aging in the bottle... it just doesn't seem ready yet.

I suspected the same in my TN of the same. 10-15 yrs before I will likely open another.

Todd

[Glenn E.]

It was surprising to me, both on Christmas Day and the next evening at Roy's house, just how unfinished this Graham's seemed to be. It really felt incomplete to me in some way... disjointed... unsettled... I'm not quite sure what the right word is. Like an awkward teenager still trying to figure out the changes caused by puberty.

I'm glad to hear that it settled down some by Sunday night.

[Roy Hersh]

I am not quite sure what that was the case. Afterall, i've had this often and even recently. It always has shown more integration and focus yet I agree, this bottle did not. it took being open at least 3-4 days before it was at its best and I can't remember having to wait that long for any VP ... even cask samples ... to show their best.

[george p]

My experience was similar to yours. Surprising amount of heat at opening and after 4 hrs in the decanter relative to other VP's I have had. Will try again tomorrow.

[Andy Velebil]

My experience was similar to yours. Surprising amount of heat at opening and after 4 hrs in the decanter relative to other VP's I have had. Will try again tomorrow.

Hi George,
to the Forum. Glad you got to try this VP that doesn't get much attention. How did day two with it turn out?