Is it possible to rank the four Graham’s Stone Terraces vintage ports?

[Rune EG]

I am pleased to be owner of bottles from all the (so far) four Graham’s Stone Terraces vintage ports. The vintages being 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2017. When tasted/consumed they were all treated in the same way regarding decanting (8 hrs), which was split between 6.5 hrs in the wine cellar (15 degrees C) followed by 1.5 hrs in room temperature.

2015 + 2016 + 2017 were all tasted/consumed when they were 2 years old (November), while 2011 was tasted/consumed when it was 6 years old (November).

I gave three of them 96 pts (which is very high in my book) and one got 94 pts (2016 vintage), which means an average of impressing 95.5 pts. This is like three horses passing the finishing line where photo is needed! I have decided to rank them as follows:
1. 2017
2. 2011
3. 2015
4. 2016
A wonderful quartet of excellence!

[Roy Hersh]

For me:

2011
2016
2017
2015

[Glenn E.]

I also own a couple of bottles* of all 4 vintages, and have done a side-by-side-by-side comparison of the original 3 and then a separate tasting of the 2017. My scores and tasting notes from the side-by-side-by-side tasting are in the article I wrote for issue #99 of the FTLOP newsletter (Sept, 2019).

1. 2011 - 98+
2. 2016 - 98
3. 2015 - 97+
4. 2017 - 95

Note that the 2017 was considerably younger when tasted than any of the others, and I do think that VP improves over the first year in bottle as it settles down and adjusts to being in the bottle. So I plan to re-do the "complete vertical" tasting early next year and include the 2017 at that time, after which I'll have a better idea of how the 2017 really compares. Right now I feel like it's too young to properly evaluate.

Note also that I gave the 2016 an astounding (for me) 99 points at Quinta dos Malvedos during the 2018 Port Harvest Tour, but "only" 98 points several months later during a 4-day long evaluation. I've gone with that more thorough tasting as my final score, in part because I find that tasting at the Quinta - regardless of producer - tends to result in higher scores by a point or two.

The 2016 is the most distinct of the 4. If you are familiar with the vineyards that make up The Stone Terraces, you know that there are two large sections of Touriga Nacional (including the entire Vinha dos Cardenhos vineyard) as originally described, and then two other sections of Port Arthur that face west and weren't originally described as being part of The Stone Terraces - the lower section being Sousao and the upper being Alicante Bouschet. I have a sneaking suspicion that the 2011 and 2015 were almost entirely Touriga Nacional, while the 2016 contains a significant amount of the lower section of Sousao and the 2017 contains the upper section of Alicante Bouschet. I feel like I can clearly sense the higher acidity and more prominent red fruit flavors that Sousao brings to a blend in the 2016. I'm merely speculating on the 2017 due to the continually increasing volume (250 cases vs 400 vs 350 vs 600 respectively, as I recall).

* for sufficiently large values of "a couple"

[Rune EG]

Please note that I tasted/consumed the 2015, 2016, and 2017 when they were at the same age, which means November each year and thereby just above two years since harvest.

When comparing the three at the same occassion there will be variations as they will be at three differant levels (age) in development.

[Eric Menchen]

Please note that I tasted/consumed the 2015, 2016, and 2017 when they were at the same age, which means November each year and thereby just above two years since harvest.

When comparing the three at the same occassion there will be variations as they will be at three differant levels (age) in development.

There is no perfect way to do this, since we can't freeze the wine in time, nor our tasting memories.

[John M.]

So I plan to re-do the "complete vertical" tasting early next year and include the 2017 at that time, after which I'll have a better idea of how the 2017 really compares.

* for sufficiently large values of "a couple"

Great--come to NYC--when??...

[Glenn E.]

Please note that I tasted/consumed the 2015, 2016, and 2017 when they were at the same age, which means November each year and thereby just above two years since harvest.

When comparing the three at the same occassion there will be variations as they will be at three differant levels (age) in development.

Yes, of course. The potential problem with tasting each bottle separately, but at the same point during its development in bottle, is that the taster's palate may be slightly different at each tasting. I know that my palate can vary wildly from tasting to tasting (see comments in my article in newsletter #100 about the DR vs Mourao tasting on this year's Port Harvest Tour for one example) so I prefer to taste them all at the same time. That way, at least, all bottles are affected by my palate in the same way and any differences noted are due to the Ports alone.

But as you say, when tasted all together they're at different ages, and as I mentioned with the 2017 I do feel that Port changes rapidly during its first year in bottle. That doesn't stop after the first year, it merely slows down, so next spring when I hold this small "vertical" tasting the Ports will have been in bottle for roughly 1, 2, 3, and 7 years. There will definitely be differences caused by their respective bottle ages, but it's still a good way to compare the Ports since they're all still extremely young.

[Glenn E.]

Great--come to NYC--when??...

We can hold a seat for you if you want to come to Seattle for the tasting!

[Roy Hersh]

John,

It really is high time that you come to Sammamish, don't ya think?

[John M.]

John,

It really is high time that you come to Sammamish, don't ya think?

Zoiks! Ok then.... let's see what we can do!

[Rune EG]

November 2019 I started this thread by ranking the four Stone Terraces which (with the exception of ST 2011) had been tasted at the same age. The ranking was:
1. 2017
2. 2011
3. 2015
4. 2016
I named them "A wonderful quartet of excellence!"

Having read Glenn Elliott's excellent article in the latest FTLOP newsletter where he is refering to a blind tasting of these four STs (and the regular Graham's VP), I noticed that the ranking made by that highly capable group of port people ended up with the identical ranking.

I would be interested to learn from FTLOP-readers of the Forum about their experience of the 2016 Vintage Port in general (not only Stone Terraces). It was a big hype when it was launched, but comparing with 2015 and 2017 I am not convinced. The abovementioned blind tasting is indicating similar view. Of vintage ports I have ended up buying more 2015 and 2017 than 2016. By all means, 2016 is a very nice vintage for vintage ports, but when I have three vintages to choose from, so far I clearly prefer 2015 and 2017.

[Glenn E.]

You can see how quickly an impression can change by comparing my initial tasting for the 2017 (95 pts) in November of 2019 with the newsletter article's score of 97+. Both tastings were blind, though the initial tasting had the Stone Terraces tasted against a handful of other 2017 Vintage Ports from other brands, while the Stone Terraces tasting was against other years of Stone Terraces and Graham's VPs. One would hope that the other Ports involved in a tasting wouldn't affect one's scores, but I'm not confident enough in my ability to swear that's the case.

Still... just 6 months in bottle (November to May) improved the 2017 by 2+ points for me. New Vintage Ports need some time in bottle to settle down.

As for your question, Rune, I don't have a lot of experience with 2016 or 2015. The experience that I do have, though, leads me to believe that 2015 was the better year at least for those who chose to bottle a VP in both years. 2016 may have had more declarations, though, which would seem to indicate that it was a better overall year.

[Bradley Bogdan]

These sound amazing. I only own a single bottle, but I’m excited to crack it in the future by all of these notes!


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