1977 Graham VP

[Andy Velebil]

Has anyone had this recently, if so what did you think? Just curious as to how your bottle showed given it's past record with excess heat.

[Moses Botbol]

Have about a case of this and had a bottle about 4 months ago. Shows a little heat, but very smooth & not a hindrance to port at all. Really turning the page for the better. I'd put it against any producer at this point. Takes a lot of decanting as expected, any doubt on this vintage should be settled.

[Andy Velebil]

Thanks Moses. I was starting to see the same thing but a bottle a few days ago was real spirity again. I was wondering if its window of improvement had passed or not. Or it could have been a one off bottle...the bottle was a late ex-cellars release from around 8-10 years ago.

[Derek T.]

I have no notes to refer to but have tasted this Port a number of times over the past decade and it definitely seems to be improving. I remember it being consistently thin and hot but more recent experiences have shown much more composure.

My experience with this Port is similar to that of Taylor 1985 over the same period. The upside is that both are probably under-priced now as a result of the mediocre reputation they had a few years ago.

[Andy Velebil]

I have no notes to refer to but have tasted this Port a number of times over the past decade and it definitely seems to be improving. I remember it being consistently thin and hot but more recent experiences have shown much more composure.

My experience with this Port is similar to that of Taylor 1985 over the same period. The upside is that both are probably under-priced now as a result of the mediocre reputation they had a few years ago.

Glad to hear. Sadly the Taylor's still is a bit expensive here given it's current state of QPR.

[John Vachon]

Had one last week-thought it was very good.

[Andy Velebil]

Had one last week-thought it was very good.

Thanks for the update on how your bottle showed. I am now more confident it was this bottle not showing well.

[Tom Archer]

Opened two magnums of G77 for my birthday party earlier this month.

Nicely up to speed in maturation terms and will probably not be as good in another 37 years - good (but not exceptional) current drinking

[Roy Hersh]

Glad to hear that others also agree that more recent impressions have shown this is a considerably more enjoyable drink than a decade or two ago!

[John Vachon]

I'm not the normal port drinker-I open ports and drink the bottle as needed-a few day to a month.

I opened the 77G two weeks ago drank two glasses and then tonite tried the last glass in the decanter-GONE.

Dregs in bottle(dregs hold up longer)(coffee filter).

Nose: some oxidation-but still?ok?

Body: full

Taste: a bit off (OX) but still good

Aftertaste: some

16/20(18/20 without the nose)

PS: taste much better than the nose.

[Roy Hersh]

John,

Would you typically expect a 37 year old Vintage Port to show well two weeks from the time you open it? Interesting to say the least.

[John Vachon]

Roy:

A 1970 would have a better chance(T,F &G).

[Glenn E.]

I'd say it depends on how you're storing it for those 2 weeks.

If it's in the bottle, stoppered, and stored in the fridge then yeah either one (1970 or 1977) will probably still be pretty nice after 2 weeks. Not in tip-top shape, of course, but probably won't have gone completely south either.

But if it's a decanter on the kitchen counter, I wouldn't expect either to be holding out very well after 2 weeks. I'd expect them to be getting pretty flat and somewhat oxidized. Old VP generally just isn't suited to being kept open on the counter for more than a couple of days.

Generally. There are occasional exceptions.

[John Vachon]

My luck must be good-great success with 1970's at the 5-7 day point in a decanter(again T,F & G).