Vintage Port

The 2016 Tinto douROSA is unoaked and comes in at 14% alcohol. This is a fruity little Beaujolais-styled wine, but it typically does nicely. Its fresh fruit and vivid flavor are supported by its structure as a rule, some acidity to go with ripe tannins. Its freshness makes it sing. So, too, this year. I think the 2015 year was better for this style, granting that they are not side by side, but there isn't a huge difference in style, just changes along the margins. This is very pretty, a perfect summer red, something you can drink casually and a little cooler than normal. It is nicely priced and made for immediate consumption. It may hold a bit, but drink it as young as possible. It is worth leaning up just now.
Mark Squires, The Wine Advocate (summer 2018)

It’s well known that the Symington stable was in fine form for the 1980 Vintage, a declaration overshadowed by 1977 but one that has provided well balanced, charming and very enjoyable wines.  Quarles Harris is one of the Symington’s second string, but along with Smith Woodhouse and Gould Campbell, should never be overlooked.    Drinking at its best now-2015.
(Tom Cave - Cellar Plan Manager - 28-Nov-2012)

This has dark, rich, berry fruit on the nose, lifted by exotic spice and hints of dark chocolate. There’s deep, rich, dark fruit on the palate too – blueberries and blackcurrants – vying with blackberries and raspberries for attention. A rich, chocolatey mouth-feel brings it all together, with crisp acidity and fine tannins ensuring this will be a wine that will keep for decades. Elegant, spicy, full and beautifully balanced on the long, fine finish. Drink 2030-60. Chris Pollington, Private Account Manager

Some in the old guard might call it infanticide, but this is still youthful and  drink rather well now. Aside from its luscious sweetness, concentrated black and red berried fruit, liquorice and herbal notes, this wine is all about texture, body, and layered complexity. Perfect with Christmas pudding, a multitude of cheeses, various cakes or alone…just the two of you.
Demetri Walters MW - Wine Buyer



Very concentrated on the palate, full bodied with layers of plum and black fruits. I would drink it now or hold onto it for another decade, if you can.
Valiant Ki, London Shop

Full, sweet and very ripe with real concentration and backbone. A big, muscular wine that always needs plenty of time before showing its best. 2020-2025

Fonseca is always the fleshier, more exuberant of the main Houses and nowhere is this more clearly seen than in 2016. Rich and sweet, overflowing with pure blackberry fruit, it is quite something to taste. There is a sumptuousness about this Port which marries well with the evident yet supple tannins of the vintage. This is a noholds-barred, fruit-forward powerhouse which will retain its punch for many years to come. Drink 2028-45+. Catriona Felstead MW, Buyer

There is an inviting freshness on the nose of 2016 Taylor’s which bodes for an elegant style of Vintage Port. There is no lack of fruit, however, on the palate, which brims with sweet, ripe blackberries and a gentle hint of lavender. There are herbal notes here too, mixing with the floral, all balanced beautifully with a very fine, bright citrussy acidity and a lovely touch of pink grapefruit. The sophistication of this wine is underpinned by earthy, grainy tannins and a harmonious finish that just goes on and on. Very impressive indeed. Drink 2030-2050+. Catriona Felstead MW, Buyer

Taylor's is one of the most well known of all Port brands. The first Taylor joined in 1816, followed later by a Fladgate and a Yeatman. Taylor’s is the only Port shipper to remain completely independent throughout its history. British ownership continues to this day. The wines are typically closed and austere when young; it is only with adequate ageing that they loosen up and offer their subliminal qualities. They are worth waiting for, though.

With a beautiful, rich and complex nose, on the palate this is quite dry. There is a serious juxtaposition of the ripe and dried fruits with expansive tannins. This has challenging, layered flavours and the promise of longevity. Very expressive and powerful Port.

When tasting the 2003s for the first time, we kept going back to this wine, as we so often do with Taylor which is surely the most cerebral and complex of all the Vintage Ports. Effortlessly eschewing the excesses of the vintage, 2003 Taylor's Vintage is superb. Dense and inky, with a nose of woodsmoke, cassis, leather and meat, it is richly textured, firmly tannic, with peppery grip and a long, rewarding finish. This is, without doubt, a Vintage Port of the highest quality.

This has a superb nose of rich, ripe berry fruit with the typical slightly austere and firm reserve of Dow. Analytically drier than usual, it is still blessed with dense fruit on the palate, a magnificent structure, weight and impressively long finish. On this showing, Dow is a strong candidate for wine of the vintage.

Graham is renowned for producing one of the most dense and sweet styles of vintage port. Richness amd sumptuous character are the hallmarks of Graham.1977 offers an impressive bouquet of fragrances reminiscent of liquorice, plums, dried fig, followed on the palate by spice and  mocha chocolate notes underlying the powerful, concentrated fruit cake flavours.

A triptych of vintages underwrite this outstanding wine, each embellishing the ensemble with its own personality, the deep colour and firm acidity of the 1935 complementing the richly honied and hedonistic 1924 and the extraordinary intensity of the 1912 crowning the edifice and ensuring that the whole is far far greater than the sum of its parts.

Poised behind its deep mahogany sheen, with aromatics of the Coffee House in St James's and the post prandial dining rooms of Pall Mall, the wine descants a rich rolling hymn to longevity and extraordinary complexity. Cloves, raisins, dates and elusive spices inform a palate which is a labyrinthine web of effortless contradiction; rich and restrained, intense and ethereal, venerable and yet incredibly fresh. To be celebrated and appreciated in equal measure, with quiet stentorian gratitude.
Simon Field MW - Port Buyer

Three exceptional and rare wines were chosen for the final Graham’s 90 blend described by the Symington family thus: Harvest 1912
A great classic year in the Douro that followed two legendary vintages, the 1904 and the immortal 1908. Widely declared by the best Port houses, the 1912 vintage Ports were bottled in the spring of 1914, just a few months before the outbreak of hostilities in August of that year. Although it’s early life was marked by the devastation of The Great War, this wine reached maturity in the late 1920s when it came to be recognised as one of the greatest ever Vintage Ports and was often served at fine dinners in the exuberant Roaring Twenties.

Amyas Warre (son of George Warre) wrote at Quinta do Bomfim in the Alto Douro on 23rd September 1912: “The grapes in all the fine vineyards were uniformly ripe and had all been gradually brought to this state of perfection.” This was an historic year for the Symington family as George Warre, whose family had been Port producers since 1729, decided to retire to England in 1912 and proposed a merger of Dow’s with the smaller Port company of Warre’s, the latter being then owned by Andrew James Symington.

Andrew accepted the proposal, initiating a partnership between the two families that was to last until the 1950s when the Warre family sold their remaining shares to the Symingtons. To mark the start of the partnership a small parcel of the 1912 Port was set aside in cask and it is a little of this wine that has been used by Charles in the Graham’s 90 Port.

The 1912 Tawny has extraordinary intensity having passed its centenary a few years ago and Charles  Symington felt that this essence of well-aged Port would complement the elegant freshness of the 1935 Tawny. Harvest 1935
The 1935 Tawny Port is a wine of remarkable elegance and beauty with fine acidity which is key to the balance of a wine of this age. This was a year of low yields in the Douro but of great quality, and classic Vintage Ports were made under perfect harvest conditions. Some Port companies declared the 1934 and some the 1935. Both years have proved to have aged superbly well.

The 1935 Vintage is considered by some to be amongst the greatest Ports of the first half of the 20th century. Andrew James Symington wrote at Quinta do Bomfim in the Alto Douro on 14th October 1935: “I am inclined to think that the quality and good colour inspires hope that the 1935 may prove good enough to make a Jubilee vintage – quantity is less than last year – but quality appears to be better.”

The three Symington brothers then working in the family business; Maurice, John and Ronald and their father Andrew James, did not declare this year, but they set aside a small quantity of 1935 Port to age in cask in view of the excellent quality of the best wines and to mark the Jubilee of King George V.

Charles has selected a small parcel of this extraordinary wine for the Graham’s 90.

Harvest 1924
The 1924 Vintage was widely declared by the leading Port houses and the wines have aged exceptionally well over the decades. An unusually cool summer resulted in wines with very good acidity, a hallmark of the year.

Gordon Cosens wrote at Quinta do Bomfim in the Alto Douro on the 10th October 1924: “Weather being fine throughout the gathering. The mostos showed good colour and life. That the '24s will turn out to be better than an ordinary vintage seems to be the general opinion.”

This 1924 Tawny Port originates from Quinta do Bom Retiro Pequeno, a very fine vineyard in the Rio Torto valley that is owned by the Symington family. Matured in cask at the estate until the mid-1960s, this Po

Intended for drinking now the wine will last if needed, but the decades of careful ageing and diligent maturation with frequent racking have blessed the wine with an incredible depth and wealth of venerable flavours.  The sheer quality of the wine combined with its august age, some 50 years on and still going very strong, make its price worthy of remark and indeed respect.  Unlike a bottle-matured Vintage Port which will throw a sediment and require decanting, this does not and can be served straight from the bottle and, once opened, will last at least a week.   Best served slightly cool, perhaps with some dried fruit, cheese or delicious simply on its own.
Tom Cave - Cellar Plan Manager

Reserved on the nose, it’s the taste that excels in this very special, single vintage tawny that has been made and matured by Graham’s from birth.  It has the depth and host of warm, enveloping flavours that conjure drinking on an autumn or winter’s evening rather than on a terrace in summer.  There are bold hints of marmalade – dark, candied chunks like a Dundee rather  than Golden Shred.  Moreish, the finish goes on and on while developing all the time too, with enough hi-toned structure to not ever cloy.  A thoroughly satisfying glass of aged port.
Tom Cave, Cellar Plan Manager With the glass sitting in front of me, I am enticed by the incredible aromas of caramelized walnuts and dried fruit leaping from the glass. Such is the concentration of the nose, one could spend much time salivating over the layers of complexity derived by 42 years of careful maturation. The palate is intensely flavoured with warming notes of dried Seville orange, allspice, effortlessly bound by a silky texture. Moving through to a savoury character towards the finish, offset by a lovely note of molasses and figs, the acidity keeps it in check, carrying the flavours through to the long and graceful finish. Perfectly balanced, full bodied yet charming, this Graham’s 1972 Tawny Port is a treat and a rarity.
Chris Lamb, Private Account Manager

The 1972 Single Harvest Tawny Port was bottled in 2015 and comes in with 125 grams per liter of residual sugar. It's a beauty. It starts slow and builds to a nice crescendo, with the acidity emerging to cut the fruit. This elegant wine has a sweet finish to go with its vibrancy and energy. It's a pretty picture overall with caramel, molasses and hints of chocolate on the end, some typical Tawny flavors. Note: This comes with a bar-top cork. Assuming a good cork, it will last indefinitely.

The three Single Quinta Ports here were bottled in 2006 and are current releases. They are released late so as to be drinkable, more or less, on release. 
93/100  Mark Squires, eRobertParker.com #221 Oct 2015

Dirk Niepoort's 1997 is a triumph. Vinified traditionally at their showpiece estate, Quinta do Passadouro, and including unusual varieties such as Tinta Amarela, the wine is intense and beautifully concentrated. Copious levels of sweet black fruits on the nose lead to a fruit-basket of flavours on the palate, supported by silky-soft tannins and an opulently sweet finish.

Richly coloured, the Graham has dense and powerful aromatics, with crushed blackberry and plum fruit flavours entwined with rich spice, earth and hints of black cocoa. A magnificent weight on the palate captures the profundity of the best fruit from the best A grade vineyards, with Quinta Do Malvedos, as always, at the centre of the action. Sweetness and power vie for attention; ripeness is all, and all-embracing in this fabulous wine.
(Simon Field MW, Berrys’ Port Buyer)

Noval’s 2003 is an extraordinary effort, the altitude of its vineyards lending a freshness and linearity to the wine above and beyond the exigencies of such a hot growing season. The Touriga Nacional performed brilliantly in 2003, adding backbone and velvety depth. The fruit profile is exceptionally generous, and the tannins, while certainly ripe, bestow a magisterial grip on the back of the palate.