Graham's : Vintage Port 2016

The 2016 Vintage Port is a blend of 37% Touriga Nacional, 42% Touriga Franca and various others. It comes in with 115 grams of residual sugar. A bit bigger than Dow’s this year, this is more intense as well. The better wine of these two benchmarks seems to be this Graham’s. Tight on the finish, aromatic and very flavorful, this actually opens rather well and shows off its lovely fruit. The Dow’s will be approachable a bit earlier, perhaps, and this may reward aging even more. As always, Graham’s is wonderfully delicious. That’s one hallmark of the house. I’m not sure this is a truly great Graham’s, but at the moment, it is enticing, with plenty of potential for improvement. There were 6,325 cases produced, plus some bottles in other formats.

Extremely complex aromas that show the classic Graham character of black-fruit marmalade and burnt oranges. Follows through to a full body with great grip at the finish. Lightly sweet. Chewy and powerful. Such a focused finish.

Deep dark ruby garnet, opaque core, purple reflections, brightening to the rim. Touch of dried figs underpinned with fine nougat, ripe cherries, tobacco nuances, multi-faceted bouquet. Sweet plum fruit, dark berries, chocolaty texture, firm, underpinned by SAVOURY tannins, nougat on the finish, despite everything endowed with good freshness, somewhat baroque but also powerful style, certain ageing potential for many decades.