1987 Graham's Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port
Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 11:07 am
A bottle purchased from Wine Consigners, decanted at 10:30 for dinner at 6:30 to celebrate our 25th Anniversary. This tasting note is from a glass taken right after decanting, so it's pop-n-pour, with modifications after dinner.
1987 Graham's Malvedos Vintage Port
Color: medium dark garnet fading to ruby near the rim. Opaque center in a proper tulip shaped, but white wine sized glass.
Nose: grapey, a little bit stewed, lots of plums, and if I didn't know better I'd say corked. But since we all know I can't smell TCA, it must be something else. It's not offensive to me, but it does smell a little different. Could have been a variation on bottle stink - but regardless it blew off by dinner time. Very lush nose.
Palate: rich dark berries and stone fruit, some seemingly very deep red and others purple. Plums, very ripe red raspberries, and blackberries for the most part. Some heat showing initially, but it integrated nicely by dinner time. There was a crisp, almost bitter transition between the palate and the finish but that line softened with time. Still very good tannins and the acidity is also nice. This is far from mature, and could probably use at least another 10 years to fully develop. I wouldn't be too surprised if it took another 15 or maybe even 20 to reach its peak. Everything felt rounder after 8 hours of air, and seemed to continue improving for another 2 hours during dinner.
Finish: tannins and a bit bitter to start, but then mellows slowly and the berries re-appear. Good length. Fades out with Granny Smith apple. The bitterness was gone by dinner so the finish was much improved. Lots of plumminess and even maybe some dates. Very pleasant.
Score: 94 points. I started out at 92 but the Port has improved pretty dramatically with time in the decanter. 8 hours seems to be not quite enough... next time I'll try 10 and see how that turns out.
1987 Graham's Malvedos Vintage Port
Color: medium dark garnet fading to ruby near the rim. Opaque center in a proper tulip shaped, but white wine sized glass.
Nose: grapey, a little bit stewed, lots of plums, and if I didn't know better I'd say corked. But since we all know I can't smell TCA, it must be something else. It's not offensive to me, but it does smell a little different. Could have been a variation on bottle stink - but regardless it blew off by dinner time. Very lush nose.
Palate: rich dark berries and stone fruit, some seemingly very deep red and others purple. Plums, very ripe red raspberries, and blackberries for the most part. Some heat showing initially, but it integrated nicely by dinner time. There was a crisp, almost bitter transition between the palate and the finish but that line softened with time. Still very good tannins and the acidity is also nice. This is far from mature, and could probably use at least another 10 years to fully develop. I wouldn't be too surprised if it took another 15 or maybe even 20 to reach its peak. Everything felt rounder after 8 hours of air, and seemed to continue improving for another 2 hours during dinner.
Finish: tannins and a bit bitter to start, but then mellows slowly and the berries re-appear. Good length. Fades out with Granny Smith apple. The bitterness was gone by dinner so the finish was much improved. Lots of plumminess and even maybe some dates. Very pleasant.
Score: 94 points. I started out at 92 but the Port has improved pretty dramatically with time in the decanter. 8 hours seems to be not quite enough... next time I'll try 10 and see how that turns out.