Quinta dos Malvedos is the leading wine in this Grahams Vintage Port, as it has been since 1890. Contributing 35% of the final blend, the Malvedos wines give floral characteristics of eucalyptus and mint, with soft violet overtones. On the taste, Malvedos gives cassis, mulberry and blackberries, all at perfect ripeness, balanced by well-structured tannins. The Malvedos wines are always rich and very ripe, the result of its predominantly south-facing aspect.
Quinta do Tua, with its very old terraced vines that face west, gives tremendous concentration, texture and flavours of black cherries (16% of final blend). Two kilometres downriver, Quinta da Vila Velha (18%) also faces west and brings intense purple-black wines with notes of esteva (rockrose) and violets and flavours of black chocolate. Since the early 20th century, the great Rio Torto vineyard Quinta das Lages has been used to make Graham’s Vintage Ports. Lages brings elegant complexity, concentration and fine violet aromas to the Graham’s 2011 (12%).
Finally, the family has chosen some wines from the very low-yielding and north-facing Quinta do Vale de Malhadas (19%) in the Douro Superior to give sinewy tannins and some fine coffee flavours. The Malhadas wines, the family believes, will contribute to the longevity of the Grahams 2011, with its firm tannins and concentrated flavours.
All the component wines have been vinified in lagar, and the final blend by varietal is 40% Touriga Nacional, 31% Touriga Franca, 23% Vinha Velha (old mixed vineyards), and 6% Sousão.
The Graham’s 2011 Vintage Port is a profound and complex wine of incredible intensity. Purple-black to the rim, this wine gives fine aromas of blue-violets, black China tea and ripe red fruit. On the palate, it offers an initial taste of powerful and vigorous fruit, merging into flavours of bitter black chocolate and fine acidity with balanced and mature, but not dry, tannins. The final flavour is clean and perfectly defined. This wine will age well, evolving into a finely balanced and elegant wine in the decades to come.
Production: 8,000 cases (7,000 of 12/75cl)
Winemakers: Charles Symington and Henry Shotton
Alcohol – 20% v/v (20ºC)
Total acidity – 4.20 (g/l)
Baumé – 3.8
