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Wine Description
The Story
Graham's has a reputation as a producer of outstanding Vintage Port for well over a century. These wines are renowned for their remarkable richness, concentration and firm tannic structure: a combination which yields impressive longevity. Graham's Vintage Ports consistently attain the highest ratings in tastings and invariably attract very high bids at fine wine auctions.
Vintage Ports are only made in years of exceptionally high quality harvests, which on average occur two or three times in a decade. The weather in the vineyards is the principal determining factor: conditions must be ideal throughout the growing season, as well as during the subsequent harvest.
Graham's extraordinary quality is the result of the unique characteristics of the five vineyards that contribute to the Vintage Port.
Graham's declares a Vintage Port only in exceptional years, perhaps three times in a decade, and in the intervening years may produce a Quinta Vintage Ports from Quinta dos Malvedos or Quinta do Tua. These Quinta Vintage Ports are aged in our cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia for 10 years or more after harvest, before being released to the market, ready for enjoyment.
Graham’s Vintage Ports are outstanding for their consistent quality and long life. James Suckling’s series of notes for old vintages tasted in 1990 confirm this – how many wines, after 40 or more years, are rated so highly and noted as “will improve with age” ?
Wine Information
Vintage Overview 1994
Classic, monumental wines with fabulous rich fruit character. An outstanding Vintage. Probably one of the best of the 20th Century. General declaration.
The Viticultural Year
After a number of exceptionally dry years, the very wet winter of 1993/4 came as a great relief and replaced valuable water reserves. March and April were beautifully warm, rapidly bringing on the development of the vines. The weather for the remainder of spring and summer was ideal with the vines developing under perfect conditions. Vintage started on the 21st September at Malvedos with the grapes in better condition than had been seen for manyyears. The vintage took place with warmdry days and cool nights.
Contemporary Family Comments
'It rained on the 13th and through to the 14th September. This proved ideal, particularly to those who had resisted the temptation to pick earlier, as the skins were softened and the grapes swelled and the sugar levels increased. The vintage took place under ideal conditions. Occasionally rain threatened but only the odd shower materialised'.
October 1994 Peter Symington
Wine Specification
Alcohol by Volume: 20% v/v (20ºc)
Total Acidity: 4.80 g/l tartaric acid
Baumé: 3.4
Vineyards: The Graham 1994 came
principally from Quinta dos Malvedos
and Quinta dos Lages
