TN: 1977 Graham Vintage Port
Posted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:13 am
Decant: 15½ hours - In celebration of the fact that I have just agreed to buy some more of these, I decided to open a bottle of Graham's 1977 vintage port for enjoyment and delictation tonight. Decanted at 6am. The bottle was sealed with a lead capsule (stamped as "Graham's 1977") over the sello, itself placed over the aluminium cellar capsule. The cellar capsule was corroded but the cork in very good condition. The bottle showed signs of mould on the label, which I took to be an indication of storage in humid conditions. The cork was extracted using a long-thread T-bar style corkscrew and came out almost in one piece. The cork was sound and branded "Graham's 1977 Vintage".
The wine was pale when decanted and smelt oddly of petrol. I did not try any of it, not sure why. Most of the sediment was left in the bottle, which had been stood upright for 3 days.
Now (15½ hours after decanting) a mid-red colour, not as dark as I was expecting but still strongly coloured although quite transparent. A very fresh nose, lots of cut grass and black pepper over the top of some blackberry juice. Lovely and sweet in the mouth with lots of dark cake and huge amounts of fruit. Fabulous layers and complexity and the texture thickens up the more you swirl it around in the mouth. Just so lovely and caressing. Aftertaste is long, lingering and just doesn't stop changing. Little by way of tannins, these seem to have all resolved themselves.
Absolutely fantastic wine. Probably not going to improve much with more time in the cellar - but then it doesn't have anywhere to go anyway! 9/9 or 95/100. 95 points
The wine was pale when decanted and smelt oddly of petrol. I did not try any of it, not sure why. Most of the sediment was left in the bottle, which had been stood upright for 3 days.
Now (15½ hours after decanting) a mid-red colour, not as dark as I was expecting but still strongly coloured although quite transparent. A very fresh nose, lots of cut grass and black pepper over the top of some blackberry juice. Lovely and sweet in the mouth with lots of dark cake and huge amounts of fruit. Fabulous layers and complexity and the texture thickens up the more you swirl it around in the mouth. Just so lovely and caressing. Aftertaste is long, lingering and just doesn't stop changing. Little by way of tannins, these seem to have all resolved themselves.
Absolutely fantastic wine. Probably not going to improve much with more time in the cellar - but then it doesn't have anywhere to go anyway! 9/9 or 95/100. 95 points