Historic Graham's & Malvedos VP Tasting in the UK

[Roy Hersh]

A number of friends got together in London for an epic tasting of about 30 bottles of VP going back into the 1950s, with Graham's and Malvedos.

It is always fun to experience these verticals, but this one even more so as you get to not only learn about the house style of Graham but also that of Malvedos.

My 3 questions for the participants, some of whom also post here, as well as on The Port Forum:

a. How would you describe the difference between the style of the Graham's VP and that of the Malvedos?

b. Is there a point in time (a specific vintage or two) where you noticed a marked improvement in either and if so, what changed?

c. If you could choose your top 3 vintages of Graham's and top 3 vintages of Malvedos VP, which would they be?

[Derek T.]

Great questions, Roy. I need to rush off to work now but will be back here later with some thoughts

[Gustavo Devesas]

An amazing tasting I must say, I'm also very curious to hear some feedback

[David Spriggs]

An amazing tasting I must say, I'm also very curious to hear some feedback

I spoke with Andy tonight. It sounded awesome! I want to hear more too!

[Eric Ifune]

Me Too!

[Derek T.]

Paul Symington has posted his thoughts from this tasting on the Graham's Blog on Facebook.

[Derek T.]

a. How would you describe the difference between the style of the Graham's VP and that of the Malvedos?

I found the Malvedos wines to have slightly less weight than their big brothers but many of the characteristics were similar, such as the richness of fruit in the entry. One noteable recurring comment in my brief tasting notes is that many of the Malvedos vintages had a dry finish, which is not something I would ever associate with Graham's classic vintages.

b. Is there a point in time (a specific vintage or two) where you noticed a marked improvement in either and if so, what changed?

There was a very distinct change from 1980s onwards with the wines from the 80s showing much younger and very much darker in colour than those of the 70s. Unfortunately, two of the 3 Malvedos vintages from the 70s were corked so it is not possible to gain a true sense of the evolution but it was quite obvious that there is much more colour extraction and retention in the wines from 1980s onwards than in those of the younger wines. I can only surmise that this is a result of the improvements made to the vineyards and wine-making techniques implemented by the Symingtons in the first decade of their ownership of the company.

c. If you could choose your top 3 vintages of Graham's and top 3 vintages of Malvedos VP, which would they be?

In order of preference:

Graham 1970, 1966 & 1955

Malvedos 1986, 1964 & 1988

I will post my very brief TN's after Andy has posted his article on this event.

Derek

[Andy Velebil]

Forgive me if I don't give away to much right now, but my top Graham of the night was the 1966.

Top Malvedos pre-1980's was the 1958 and post 1980's was the 1986. But there were some really close ones that lost out by the slightest of margins.

[Peter W. Meek]

... my top Graham of the night was the 1966....

Interesting -- I think G66 may be the WOML (wine of my life), at least so far.

[Moses Botbol]

c. If you could choose your top 3 vintages of Graham's and top 3 vintages of Malvedos VP, which would they be?

In order of preference:

Graham 1970, 1966 & 1955

Malvedos 1986, 1964 & 1988

I'd expect just about everyone to have the same picks as yours. Certainly for the Grahams no question. Malvedos I haven't had enough to say 100%, but have had the ones you mentioned and a few others and based on that I would agree.

[Andy Velebil]

... my top Graham of the night was the 1966....

Interesting -- I think G66 may be the WOML (wine of my life), at least so far.

Peter,
I'd say you must of had a bad bottle as this has been a very consistently good VP. I'd suggest you don't write it off yet and give it another chance as a good bottle and it may just become one of the best wines of your life.

[Derek T.]

... my top Graham of the night was the 1966....

Interesting -- I think G66 may be the WOML (wine of my life), at least so far.

Peter,
I'd say you must of had a bad bottle as this has been a very consistently good VP. I'd suggest you don't write it off yet and give it another chance as a good bottle and it may just become one of the best wines of your life.

Is Andy still suffering from jet-lag or can he read words that no one else can see?

[Glenn E.]

Interesting -- I think G66 may be the WOML (wine of my life), at least so far.

Peter,
I'd say you must of had a bad bottle as this has been a very consistently good VP. I'd suggest you don't write it off yet and give it another chance as a good bottle and it may just become one of the best wines of your life.

Is Andy still suffering from jet-lag or can he read words that no one else can see?

I'm guessing both.

[Peter W. Meek]

... my top Graham of the night was the 1966....

Interesting -- I think G66 may be the WOML (wine of my life), at least so far.

Peter,
I'd say you must of had a bad bottle as this has been a very consistently good VP. I'd suggest you don't write it off yet and give it another chance as a good bottle and it may just become one of the best wines of your life.

I tried to respond earlier, but the site was down or unavailable for some reason.

Yes, this was the GOOD wine of my life, so far.

I also quipped that I wish it had been a bad bottle, since that would leave open the possibility of getting a good bottle which would (naturally) be something unimaginably great.

[Roy Hersh]

Uh oh. I just saw on FOX News that a California Highway Patrolman on a motorcycle was just pulled over and was arrested for smoking marijuana. You don't think ... no ... wait a minute ... no way .

It can't be, Andy doesn't even work for the CHIP's unit. Hmmm.

No way can this be written off to jet lag!

I've warned my moderators about typing and at the same time!

I had to read that three times before I would believe that I had read it right.

I should lock the thread before he goes in and tries to modify his post and others.


OK, but if you think this is a MAJOR BLOOPER ... you guys are going to LOLOLOLOL when you read my "CORRECTION" in the upcoming newsletter. It makes Andy's minor faux pas look like a spelling error by comparison.

[Andy Velebil]

I guess jet lag, coming back to a nightmare at work and then totally screwing up and miss reading the post way to early this morning was a bad combo. go ahead I deserve all I get

[Peter W. Meek]

If I had a dime for every post I ever misread....

[Andy Velebil]

If I had a dime for every post I ever misread....

me too

[Andy Velebil]

OK, but if you think this is a MAJOR BLOOPER ... you guys are going to LOLOLOLOL when you read my "CORRECTION" in the upcoming newsletter. It makes Andy's minor faux pas look like a spelling error by comparison.

Can you hurry up and put it out to take the heat off me

[Al B.]

Back on topic, I can say it was a heck of a privilege to have been at that tasting. So many of the wines we drank were first times for me. I learnt that 40-55 years is in no way too much time to allow Malvedos to sit in the cellar and quietly slumber.

What I found really interesting was a distinct floral (rose perfume) scent that was very marked in the older Malvedos vintages (1957-1964). This was also noticeable in the 1955 Graham and, to a much smaller extent, the 1966 and 1970. In general, the Malvedos vintages were more elegant and less
beefy than the Graham vintages of the same age.

Sadly, there were a number of the Malvedos wines from the 1970s through to the 1990 that were spoiled, so the opportunity to look for similarities through the vertical was lost.

Of the Graham vintages we tried (1955, 1966, 1970, 1985 and 2003) I greatly preffered the older wines with my top three being 1970 just ahead of 1966 and then the 1955.

Of the
Malvedos vintages, I loved the mature wines. My favorite being 1964, 1958 and 1957. What a chance o taste mature versions of wines that I have never seen before.