1990 Graham's Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port

[Andy Velebil]

From a .375ml bottle

As it is the only bottle of Malvedos I have at the house at the moment, the rest are in storage. I opened this bottle not only for this months virtual tasting, but as a toast to the new Malvedos blog the Symington's have started for this years harvest. To my recollection, I've never tried this vintage of Malvedos before and it is the only bottle of it I own. The color has now turned to a medium rust color that is more like a 10 year tawny. Lovely amounts of orange rinds and mahogany dominate the nose and also bear more resemblance to an aged tawny than a VP. However, on the palate there are still some cherries that give way to oranges and licorise and lots of acidity. This bottle may be past its prime, but it is still very nice one and the long finish completes the package. Actually the finish is very long and lingers in the mouth for several minutes. While this appears to be a nicely stored ex-cellars bottle; from the new label, capsule, and perfect cork, I fear this half bottle has passed its prime. I need to find a full bottle of this to see if this is somewhat representative of this vintage.
89 points
09/23/09

[Symington Family]

Andy, thanks for toasting the blog. Henry and the guys are having a great time with it and the reception has far surpassed anyone's expectations.

When you are here we might be able to find a 75cl bottle of 90 to put to the test.

Cheers
Dan Carbon (for the team in the Malvedos winery with the dialup modem)

[Andy Velebil]

Dan,

Many thanks for the offer. I can't wait to head back to the "mother land", my feet will be on the ground in exactly one week.

See you soon
Andy

[Todd Pettinger]

Oh Dan, being the IT geek, I feel for you with the dialup model.
It is great to see a Harvest blog - very cool and informative. Good stuff.

Thanks for the review Andy.

Todd

[Andy Velebil]

I just realized this vintage was the Centenary vintage for Malvedos. And the first year they started using the new label, which has the arch on the top of the label. That arch is from the now non-used original main gates to Malvedos. The gates are quite cool to see in person, although a bit overgrown with some shrubs when I was there two years ago. here is a pic of the label, although it's not super clear. Sorry about that. At the bottom of the arch are the words, "Graham" on the left and "Malvedos" on the right.