2004 Graham’s Malvedos vintage port

[Rune EG]

During the 2011 FTLOP Harvest Tour we visited Malvedos as the last visit. We tasted six Malvedos vintages (1979, 1982, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2009) plus four Graham’s vintage ports. During the tasting my wife and I agreed that of the Malvedos vintages, 2004 and 2009 were the best. We wrote “buy” next to our tasting notes. Now the 2004 Graham’s Malvedos is released here in Norway, and I purchased a bottle to test out before further decisions. It appeared to be a very nice test.

Decanted 6 hrs. Some sediments. Deep, deep dark purple colour. Aroma was fully dominated by well-balanced fruit with hints of minerals and oak. Still slightly closed on the aroma. Full body. Fantastic combination of power and elegance. The fruit is floating away in a wonderful way. Fruit having hints of blackberries. This vintage port has the nice characteristics of being young, but still being well-developed. Well-structured vintage port. 95 pts.

[John M.]

Great note as always....How were the other 4 vintages as the two you like are newer?

[Rune EG]

Actually it was seven Malvedos we tasted, as 2008 was also included.
The weakest that time was 1979 (86), 2008 (87), 1982 (88).
The last two were quite nice: 2001 (91), 1999 (92)

[John M.]

Actually it was seven Malvedos we tasted, as 2008 was also included.
The weakest that time was 1979 (86), 2008 (87), 1982 (88).
The last two were quite nice: 2001 (91), 1999 (92)

Wow---That's quite a spread of quality---a true roster of "Hit or Miss", I did not realize there was such variability. I've only had a couple Malvedos and they were all quite nice (1995 & 2009). I had both at 94 points.