Graham's 2003
Vintage Port
This is an extremely fine wine made in the very best of the Graham tradition. Great depth of structure, endless layers of very ripe blackberry fruit. A classic Graham in the style of its famous predecessors.
Description
The year was notable for its particularly hot summer interspersed by bouts of rain. In June, a spell of very hot weather caused many immature bunches to dry up altogether, with a useful thinning of the overall crop, which could otherwise have been quite large. Fortunately, with plentiful reserves of ground water there was no evidence of the vines suffering from any hydric stress.
The high temperatures recorded in August that caused such problems with over-ripeness in other winegrowing areas of Europe were not unusual for the Douro, and in fact proved ideal for Port. The effect of the severe heat caused some vines to temporarily stop photosynthesising, pushing back the vintage starting date a little, but there was little evidence of raisining. Nevertheless, yields were quite low in many of the best areas of the Douro, limiting the supply of vintage port quality grapes.
By the time vintaging began at Malvedos on 15th September, there had been a little rain and most grapes were in perfect condition, with no evidence of any heat damage. What was remarkable at the Quinta this year was the ripeness of the Touriga Franca, which achieved an almost record 14.5 baume.
Of the other principal component vineyards, Vila Velha began also on the 15th, and Lages in the Rio Torto a week later on the 22nd.
At Malvedos, a combination of robotic lagares and piston plungers were used to make the majority of the Quinta’s production under the watchful eye of Henry Shotton. A small amount was fermented in traditional lagares. As usual, we started with the Barroca and Amarela, moving on to the Nacional and Tinta Roriz and finishing with the Francesa. With the grapes coming in without a great deal of juice, the lagares took quite a bit of work to extract colour and flavour from the skins, but the results were spectacular. The young lots were aromatic and full of colour, showing plenty of promise for the future.
Our Expert's Recommendation
"This young wine should be allowed to age in its own bottle for at least 15 to 20 years from the time it is bottled to achieve its optimum maturity. For those who prefer to drink their Vintage Port young, 4 to 5 years are sufficient."
Press Comments
"Opaque purple color. Floral fragrances abound with blackberry and black pepper highlights. Gotta love this kind of juicy sweet, classic Graham’s propped up by full throttle cassis and plum flavors. It shows crisp underpinnings of acidity and lively tannins that are round enough to make this very approachable at the moment. Focused and with deft balance, the mid-palate is still a bit austere. Unquestionably an excellent young Vintage Port with fine long term prospects. Is this the reincarnation of the 1966?"
“An expansive chord of mineral and black fruit flavour, this vintage of Graham’s is all-enveloping in its sheer power. The tannins and the fruit strike a balance with dense, floral, purple-black flavours over crushed stone. That schisty grip of the tannin ends up feeling supple and curvaceous, defining the boundaries of the fruit rather than restricting it. The best vintage of Graham’s in recent memory...”.
"Loads of tar and blackberry aromas follow through to a full-bodied palate, with medium sweetness, big, velvety tannins and a long finish. A big, juicy wine".
“Deep, saturated ruby. Initially reticent aromas of dark chocolate and nuts; showed a high-pitched eucalyptus quality as it opened in the glass. Then almost shockingly huge and rich in fruit, with wonderfully lush, complex flavors of cassis, violet, minerals, spices, flowers and exotic chocolate. The tannins are seductively sweet, yet the finish boasts terrific focus, not to mention outstanding persistence”.
"This is a great Port, from a great house. It is packed with solid, structured, rich and intense black fruit flavors. Its tannins show considerable aging potential. It is a big, ripe wine, balanced by a long, lingering dark aftertaste".
“Loads of tar and blackberry aromas follow through to a full-bodied palate, with medium sweetness, big, velvety tannins and a long finish. A big, juicy wine”.
“This is a great Port, from a great brand. It is packed with solid, structured, rich and intense black fruit flavours. Its tannins show considerable aging potential. It is a big, ripe wine, balanced by a long, lingering dark aftertaste”.
"This is a WOW wine and the one wine in this lineup which has improved the most from my cask sample evaluations back in July. Worthy of the upper tier of the vintage with the balance and breeding to achieve greatness in the future. Massive extract and fully opaque, this youthful “take no prisoners” Vintage Port is your next Portuguese idol! It is more giving than it was three months ago, just after bottling, both on the nose and palate. It also has lost a drop of that spiritual influence from the aguardente. I dig the fleshy fruit and fabulous flavours which are seamless and vibrant".
"The exceptional heat of the 2003 vintage played right into the supple power of Graham's, the best Vintage from this house in recent memory."
“Gives more on the nose than some of its peers, hinting at burnt fruit with a bitter chocolate intensity. Rich and voluptuous with ripe tannins in the mouth and a square finish”.
“Revealing the essence of grenadine and lavender. A very well made wine with finely knit acidity, medium-full bodied, ripe plum and purple fruit flavours that reaches 4.0 Baume on the sweet meter. This young Graham’s was a very different wine upon first approach after opening the bottle. It was hot and not all that pleasant initially and showed its youthful power and required lots of air time. It was a much better wine the second day. It was not only bigger but offered a more dense and chewy wine that was expansive and mouth filling with round, supple tannins and a long finish with just a bit of alcohol still showing”.
“Purplish crimson. Pruney nose…Some peppery notes and great integrated intensity – pretty dry finish. Neat and sophisticated and compact”.
“Symington flagship”.
Additional Information
For more information about Graham's, please visit
http://www.grahams-port.com
Click here to download the wine specification sheet.