For The Love Of Port

Guys, with November I want to try a theme that was successful in the past. Commenting products from one brand. So with this VT we should have a lot of FTLOP members participating as this brand is widely available with price range from cheap to expensive.

Try one and share with us!

Chears!

Fred,

Just to clarify, this is for any year of Vintage Port only or for anything that Grahams makes?

Anything Graham's makes

My first time participating in a Virtual Tasting.....

1983 Graham's Vintage Port:



Decanted from 750ml, full driven cork that had some mold on top of it, under the plastic sheath. Cork was discolored about 80% of the way from bottom to top. No sign of leakage.

Decanted at 5:15p: No time to take a taste, on the way out for the evening.

+ 5 hours: Solid deep ruby color in the glass. No significant change of color at the rim, only fading to a very slight pink. Fat full legs on the glass after swirling. Aroma reveals cherries and fresh dark fruits, with some mild heat. On the palate, cherry and blueberry fruit is very up front. This wine is very juicy, with some spice accents mixed in with the fruit. In the mouth this is somewhat sweet, and very full-bodied. At mid-palate, some heat starts to build, leading into a medium long finish that seems a bit hotter than I expected. Some decent tannins in the finish as well, but they are pretty soft.

+27 hours: I have a nasty cold, so didn't taste much. Guess I can't really blame the port for that....

More to come on this one as I spend more time with it....

Rich

Hey Rich,

Just curious (and I'll probably cry when you answer) but how much was this bottle (if you don't mind me asking)?

I saw this recently at a local shop for $120C a bottle... a couple months ago this would have been $112USd, but at today's exchange rate, you can peg that at nearly $127USd.

Oh, and congrats on your first VTN! :)

Todd

Todd-

Don't mind at all. It was $83, and purchased before I found the wealth of knowledge here, which might have led me to think that it wasn't the greatest price in the world. However, I wanted an older port that was ready to drink, so it was the best deal that day! Then, of course, I didn't drink it when I thought I was going to so.....

R

Well on Monday night I made a Port reduction with Graham's Six Grapes ... does that count?

TN: a finely rich and decadent reduction with succulent notes and purity of grape flavors. It went extraordinarily well on the wild mushroom bread pudding. It was smooth and had a very long finish. Bravo. 87 points.

I have had this Ruby probably more than any other and it is far and beyond anything else that I have discovered in the category. (Although admittedly, I have not yet discovered Andy's Lote 601 which apparently was almost better than some lower VPs.)

The Six Grapes never disappoints with a burst of sweet jammy grapes and a touch of dark cherries. Although still a thin mouthfeel when compared to most LBVs, it has an infinitely better mouthfeel and body than most Rubies.

A concentrated, spirity nose leads one to believe this will be a monster in the alcohol department, but it is much more balanced than one would expect.

A high, consistent quality brings me back to this one as a daily drinker again and again. There aren't too many better examples of a Ruby Port than Graham's Six Grapes IMO.

I have a couple of other bottles lined up for November's Graham VT, but am on call this week and cannot indulge like I would like to. A Port tasting at the end of the month should make it in under the wire for the VT and we are trying a bottle of '96 Malvedos, which I have one of in my cellar so I am looking forward to trying that without having to crack my own bottle just yet. I suspect that we will see a Port that is drinking fine now, but will not peak for a few more years.

Todd

10 Year Old Tawny Port by Graham's (bottled in 2006)

The color is a pale red with a brown edge. The nose provides scents of allspice, cinnamon, with fresh red strawberries. The palate has prominant cedar and liquorice intially that develope into bitter tannins and a healthy dose of acidity as it fills the mouth, ending in a long finish. Although this is a decent 10 year tawny Port, it just doesn't have the grip and complexity that others in its class have. 85 points.

(edit note..after a couple more glasses, this didn't improve and the more I had the more the flaws (simple, lacking grip and fruit/nuts) became apparent. hence the lowered score.)

Roy Hersh wrote:Well on Monday night I made a Port reduction with Graham's Six Grapes ... does that count?

No can do...now where is the TN before it was cooked

French and English note :)

Graham’s 40 ans : This port really impressed me by the power on the first nose, exhaling freshly harvested almonds and vanilla flavours. Upon swirling, it does transform into a complex range of grilled almonds, vanilla, toffee and candied figs. The palate is smooth filled with complex subtility of fresh almonds, caramel and toffee flavours to end on candied orange peel and a spicy touch. Well done! 18/20


Graham’s 40 ans : Ce porto m’a étonné par la puissance du premier nez, exhalant les amandes fraîchement cueillies et la vanille. À l’agitation, le bouquet se transforme, offrant une gamme complexe d’arômes d’amandes grillées, avec une touche de vanille, de toffee et de figues confites. Encore une fois, la bouche s’ouvre en souplesse et en subtilité, s’entremêlant d’amandes fraîches, de caramel et de toffee pour se terminer dans une longue finale de zeste d’oranges confites avec une touche épicée. Très réussi! 18/20

must... control urge... to open... Graham's 2003 VP for virtual tasting...

know... it will... be better... in 20 years..........

Todd, go for it. I'd love to see a current note on this one....OK, just a bit of peer pressure there :twisted:

I would if I could get it any cheaper than the $80C that I got it for. And even that is a bargain compared to the "regular" $105. Have I ever mentioned prices here suck?

Hopefully Costco will really discount this stuff in January as they tend to do... then I should be able to pick up a decent amount for much cheaper.

I was disapointed with the Graham's 2003 tasted at the IVDP tasting this October. I'll definitively hold on my single bottle I have because at the moment it looks in a close phase.

Grahams 1966 Vintage Port

First bottle from a fresh case purchased at AIW around one month ago. Decanted around 6 PM and served at 8 PM Thanksgiving evening. Decanted very cleanly and a light pink to start with. Immediatly after decanting a little heat but the beauty of this port was already coming through. After dinner starting around 8 PM this had hit it's stride, a stunning wine, and this bottle reminds me why this is my favorite-semi-affordable VP. Aroma of violets, supersmooth. Got even better as the night wore on. Seems like this is not on the way down yet and will continue on it's plateau for at least another decade. One of my very favorite ports.

97 points or 9-9 on the Uncle Tom scale

Jay

Grahams 2000 LBV

Well, this just goes to show how little I really know about Port. This was served on board a flight from Shanghai to Hong Kong at 32,000 feet so I guess that I can blame the altitude. Having tasted this, I was convinced it was the Grahams 2000 Vintage Port. Deep, inky black colour with a dark purple rim, very youthful. Nose very closed, toffee predominantly but lots of work brings out some blackcurrant. Smooth, silky and dry entry but fruit hiding in the background. Once you let the mid-palate come through there is just an ever-growing wall of fruit (damsons, blackcurrants and morello cherry) with a pleasant but very noticeable tannic and acidic core that fades away again to reveal yet more fruit just before you swallow. Great complexity. When you do swallow, the aftertaste starts a little too emptily, but develops into a cheek tingling black cherry and dark chocolate length that goes on for a very long time. Extremely impressive and a very welcome surprise. Absolutely delicious and even as a filtered LBV, I think this will be better in 5 years time. Tuck some away and see but the full vintage must be really impressive if this is the LBV. (From a half bottle.) 89/100.

So I made it to the Port and Douro wine tasting on November 15th. After tasting over 50 samples I went out for something to eat and had a glass of Barolo with dinner. After dinner I headed over to Stewart's place to taste the following:

1996 Grahams Malvedos
Very dark color. The nose was very primary with lots of fruit, blackberry, cherry, and mocha. Huge firm structure. Moderate acidity, nice sweetness. A great finish with lots of fruit, plum, and pumpkin pie spice. This wine was really open and drinking amazingly well. Lots of life left in it and it will definitely improve. 93

1985 Grahams
Lighter than the 1996 Malvedos but not a lot. The nose on this was tight and not revealing much. Some cherry and light chocolate scents. The palate was rather nice, smooth, rich, and voluptuous. Well integrated tannin and nice subtle acidity. Some heat showing which leads to a warm figgy finish. 91

Those notes were taken from small samples saved for the next day. Notes from the night before were mostly similar but my palate was shot and had difficulty evaluating them. The 1985 Grahams was performing under expectations. I suppose bottle variation starts to come into the picture when tasting something 22 years old. It was good but it can be better.

Graham's 1975 VP
I opened this on Saturday night as an emergency decant. I remember thinking "is this corked?" but then dismissed that thought and carried on.

Last night I revisited this bottle (+24 hrs) and remember ot being warm, thick and satisfying. A nice winter port.

Tonight (Monday) I can confirm that this is absolutley, 100%, totally and completely corked

That said, it will not be poured down the sink. I have forced myself to drink corked VP before (haven't we Andy?) and I will do so agian

Derek

Graham's 1983

A bottle supplied by Uncle Tom and consumed at The Crusting Pipe on 20 Nov 07.

Decanted 7 hours - a fabulous Christmas Pudding aroma that was so typically Graham's. A lovely thick mouthfeel with the usual abundance of plummy fruits. This bottle was in a perfect drinking window but still showing a grippy tannic dryness that says it's got a while to go before its peak. A beautiful drink for a cold winter night.

Derek