For The Love Of Port

First bottle opened from 8 purchased from http://www.uvine.com. Labels have worn off (only 1 bottle has traces remaining, but all are embossed bottles "Graham's 1975" with embossed lead capsules with new style IDVP labels beneath. No signs of leakage. I am assuming Oporto bottled and perhaps a late release from Graham's cellar.

On Decanting
Came off sediment very easily. Typical Graham's smell on decanting - yummy. Nice dark colour in the decanter but significantly lighter appearance in the glass. Lots of fruit smell from the glass with a little heat. First sip, very thick and warming - stewed plums with dry tannin gripping the cheaks then WHACK - the heat punches you in the throat. Finish is very long but becomes quite bitter towards the end.

A great build-up but I really do hope that heat fades away!

More later

Derek

+3 Hours
Still has that nice thick and warming entry but the heat is now taking over everything else, although that mule-like kick in the throat has thankfully disappeared. I think this one needs patience so I'll have to stay up quite late to see how it evolves - only in the interest of science, of course

Derek

+5 Hours
Has started to put on some colour in the glass. Alchohol has now faded from everything but the finish. Cherry fruit starting to come through and still that thick warm feeling. Getting better.

Derek Turnbull wrote:+3 Hours

...I'll have to stay up quite late to see how it evolves - only in the interest of science, of course

Derek

Sounds like a good excuse to me

+24 Hours
Now considerably darker with more fruit on the nose. Lighter in the mouth than yesterday but not a bad thing. Raspberry cream and dark chocolate with very little heat. This is completely different to the wine I tasted last night and is now a very nice VP. Will try very hard to keep some for tomorrow

Derek

PS: Andy, it was an excuse but I have to admit to being a complete whimp and falling asleep watching a film on TV and being unable to see this wine through the night

Derek, you're slipping, I thought I taught you better than that. The pool at Crasto's is already calling YOUR name :twisted:

I must re-visit this one at some point. My experience seems atypical, although the odd bottle I tried earlier this year may have been badly cellared.

Tom

Tom,

This definately showed better than I had hoped for, especially after 24 hours in the decanter. I bought my 8 bottles for £25 each last month and they are certainly good value at that price.

Given my description of the bottle, would you agree with my assumption that these are Oporto bottled?

Derek

Given my description of the bottle, would you agree with my assumption that these are Oporto bottled?

To the best of my knowledge, no VP from this vintage or subsequent ones was bottled outside Oporto.

It's of academic interest to speculate on the identity of the last pipe of VP to be shipped for overseas bottling. Dow or Rebello Valente '72 are possibilities.

Someone in VNG can probably tell us...

Tom

Derek,

would you say this has ANY future? I'm with MB, who gives Taylor 75 the same score as 70 and 77 - yes read the book, he does. Well actually, I'd rate the 77 higher than he does, but he is almost alone in lauding the 75 and to me it equals the 70 (but not the 77 )

Because of "professional" reports I've given up on most 75s. Luckily, I bought into Tayor's 75 before last year's price rise on this one (I paid under GBP20 per bottle). However, this season I am tempted to try other 75s, as a sort of everyday "house" wine.

MB gives Graham 4 stars as well as Taylors (despite calling the Taylor the "best 75 by far" or something like that) so I was tempted to dabble in the Graham 75 first. Is it worth getting a case-or-two?

Stuart,

Given the price that this sells for at auction and the experience I have just had I would say go for it. I'm sure you will be able to sell it on again if it is not to your taste.

As far as what the future holds for this wine I'm not really the man to ask. I have never had it before so have no way of knowing how it compares to 5, 10, 20 years ago. It did need a long time in the decanter to release all of that heat and I'm not sure if this is a tell-tale sign that someone with more experience could pick-up on as an indication of where the wine is heading?

What I can say is that the bottles I have still seem to have something to offer. It was a very nice drink when the heat went away. A good sign to me was the colour of the wine which I thought was on the dark side for a 31 year old VP so it hasn't dropped all its substance into the crust.

If you are keen to try it before plunging into a purchase and are willing to meet at a convenient place and swap a bottle of Taylor's 75 then you are welcome to try on of mine. Unless of course you would prefer to give me a SW77

Derek

On an earlier tasting post I said the Grahams 75 is a really good port.I'm glad Derek agrees.I think this will last a good while up to ten years+ at peak.

Derek Turnbull wrote: If you are keen to try it before plunging into a purchase and are willing to meet at a convenient place and swap a bottle of Taylor's 75 then you are welcome to try on of mine.
Derek

Happy to do a "swapsy" if you're in London in the next week. After that I need to put down a bid anyway so will be too late, but still happy to swap with another of similar value at a later date if you need a Taylor '75 - maybe one of those Varg. 87s?

.......want to swap a Kevin Keegan sticker for a Trevor Brooking while we're at it? Reminds me of being at school !

Stuart,

Unfortunately I'm not likely to be in London in the next week but will let you know if the oportunity arises in the near future.

I think I have some old Beano mags in the loft and am still missing a Christiano Ronald sticker from my World Cup 2006 poster on my bedroom wall

Derek

Derek Turnbull wrote: I think I have some old Beano mags in the loft and am still missing a Christiano Ronald sticker from my World Cup 2006 poster on my bedroom wall

Derek

I skipped the Maradonna one in '86, funnily enough - either that or it was subsequently peeled off for use on the dartboard :twisted:

Christiano Ronaldo, Marradona and Ronald Koeman have pride of place on my World Cup Hero's shelf

Incidentally, I think the UEFA 2008 European Championships should be stopped here and now - Scotland head their group after 2 games with an 8-1 goal difference with France and Italy (World Cup Final opponents) trailing in their wake - is this a dream? Is Archie Gemmil going to come back for the next game? I think I've had too much port, surely this can't be real

Derek

uncle tom wrote:

Given my description of the bottle, would you agree with my assumption that these are Oporto bottled?

To the best of my knowledge, no VP from this vintage or subsequent ones was bottled outside Oporto.

It's of academic interest to speculate on the identity of the last pipe of VP to be shipped for overseas bottling. Dow or Rebello Valente '72 are possibilities.

Someone in VNG can probably tell us...

Tom

The cutoff date I remember hearing from 'around'--no actual source on this--was the 1970 vintage. In addition, I've seen non-Oporto bottings for the 1970 vintage but none thereafter.

I wonder what the combined knowledge of this group would be on this subject? Who's seen shipper bottlings from vintages in the 1970s for VP?