For The Love Of Port

On Glenn's birthday tour, a private tour organized by Roy, we were privileged to taste five vintages of Graham's Stone Terraces (all of them I think) against five Graham's regular bottlings. I must disclaim that unlike Glenn, Graham's is not my favorite house style, and on an occasion where I've really liked a bottle, Glenn in fact did not. Regardless of favorites, I really enjoyed and appreciated the opPortunity to take part in this tasting.

• 2011 Graham Vintage Port: Smells of dark berry, raspberry, mint, empty wood wine barrel, and tar. Strong and powerful flavors, with the sweetness getting even stronger in the finish. There are good tannins, not overpowering, making this wine very approachable now. Lots of dark berry flavors make for a nice Port. 93 points.
• 2011 Graham The Stone Terraces: Similar aromas to the 2011 Graham VP, but much more herbal with eucalyptus, pyracantha, black plum, prune, and an odd meatiness. When tasted, all of these aromas come through, along with wintergreen, orange, and even a tropical fruit flavor that might be papaya. There are good tannins, which remain strong in the finish. I also noticed the flavor of plump prunes. A distinctly long finish. This one edges out the 2011 VP, but just a little bit. 93-94 points.
• 2015 Graham Quinta dos Malvedos: The aroma has lots of eucalyptus, and more red fruit than the previously tasted 2011 Graham VP and 2011 Graham Stone Terraces, with strawberry and raspberry prominent. There was also a small hint of spearmint, and then tar after that. In the mouth, this packs a big huge tannic punch—pow! There are flavors of orange, grapefruit, blackberry, and blueberry. It is very sweet, with some acid to counter that. But the big tannins knock this out of favor for me today. Maybe some day in the future this will be great. Now? 90 points.
• 2015 Graham The Stone Terraces: Smells of eucalyptus, wintergreen, spruce resin, tangerine, and tree bark. The aromas are really fascinating, and that was before some grapefruit joined the party. This is also very tannic, young, and primary, but more approachable than the 2015 Quinta dos Malvedos. There are flavors of red fruit, dark fruit, and even some tropical fruit; and then some cola showed up as well. This one is kind of fun and certainly enjoyable. 93 points.
• 2016 Graham Vintage Port: Smells meaty and savory, along with black plum, black currant, and some plum pit character as well. The aromas are very faint compared to the previously tasted four wines (2011 Graham VP & Stone Terraces, 2015 Quinta dos Malvedos & Stone Terraces). Swirling reveals some floral perfume notes. Flavors of juicy raisins and dates. Very strong tannins and lots of acid, followed by a medium length finish. This is medium bodied and plenty sweet, but the weakest of the Graham VPs tasted today (2011, 2016, 2017, and 2020). 90-91 points.
• 2016 Graham The Stone Terraces: Smells of peach skin, faint eucalyptus, then some faint red fruit. There is a touch of pineapple skin as well. Big tannic pucker, with the wine sticking to my teeth. The flavor suggests orange citrus. Very tannic, maybe too much to enjoy today. 91 points.
• 2017 Graham Vintage Port: Aromas of dark fruit, like blackberry, then orange, tangerine, orange marmalade, and some citrus pith. This has milder tannins than the previously tasted 2016 Graham’s Ports, but there are plenty there. The flavor is strongly orange, with all sorts of juicy citrus at play. Quite nice for a young VP. 92-93 points.
• 2017 Graham The Stone Terraces: Smells fruity, with jammy aromas, along with more of the herbs that I noticed in the 2011 and 2015 Stone Terraces. There is mint and wintergreen. This has much more powerful fruit flavor than the 2017 Graham VP, along with some mint flavor as well. A small step above the VP. 93 points.
• 2020 Graham Vintage Port: Smells of red and dark fruit with grape stems, eucalyptus, plum, and date. The 2020 VP is redder than the 2021 Stone Terraces, which is darker with a more blue hue. Nice tartness in the flavor, with red plum and red currant. Really nice juiciness, with lots of tannins. For future potential I would pick this one over the 2016 and 2017 VPs, and it is pretty nice now. 92-93 points.
• 2021 Graham The Stone Terraces: Initially presented a mineral aroma that I tried to figure out if it was more like graphite or stone. Then I noted eucalyptus, tar, and some faint grape stem. Smoother and more approachable than the 2020 VP, but still has very very powerful tannins, along with some nice orange flavor. I wouldn't open this one now, but it seems like a good one to lay down for the future. Today it gets 91 points, but I think it will exceed the 2020 VP down the road.