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News
We are pleased to announce 2017 as a Vintage Port year, making this our first ever ‘back-to-back’ general declaration in five generations since Andrew James Symington arrived in Porto in 1882.
The 2017 wines were the result of an advanced growing cycle which led to the earliest harvest ever recorded in our family’s 137-year history as winemakers and port producers. Warmer, drier conditions than usual resulted in small, compact bunches of grapes in excellent condition, with yields amongst the lowest of the century so far, 20% below the 10-year average. Despite the harvest beginning in August, the maturations were perfectly balanced, resulting in wines characterised by extraordinary intensity, concentration and structure, combined with stunning aromas and freshness.
Given the very low-yielding year, the 2017 Vintage Port is our smallest declaration of the 21st century, with en primeur volumes approximately a third less than in 2016.
The wine is a truly outstanding example of the best that the Douro is capable of producing. Deep purple in colour and with a viscosity that signals a huge concentration, the aromas of blackberry, plum and bergamot leap out of the glass. On the palate there are layers of black fruit with fresh apricot highlights, and an amazingly long and persistent finish.
Provenance and variety make-up
• Quinta dos Malvedos: 58%
• Quinta do Tua: 21%
• Quinta do Vale de Malhadas: 12% • Quinta da Vila Velha: 9%
• Touriga Franca: 47%
• Touriga Nacional: 35%
• Sousão: 11%
• Old mixed vines (field blend): 7%
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
This wine is produced from vines at the flagship Graham’s property in the Douro valley, Quinta dos Malvedos, with small parcels of top graded grapes from Quinta do Tua, Quinta da Vila Velha, and Quinta do Vale das Malhadas. In 2017 42% less rain fell at Malvedos than the 30 year average and the vines produced a small but extremely high-quality crop with extraordinary concentration. The wine was fermented in small batches at our specialist on-site winery at Malvedos. It carries the classic Graham’s hallmarks – full-bodied, rich, and opulent – and will provide great drinking pleasure for decades to come.
Vintage 2017
What was also remarkable in 2017 was the timing of the vintage, which started at Malvedos on 28th August, with the vines between two and three weeks ahead of normal in terms of their vegetative cycle. With such a small crop, only 166 pipes of grapes compared to 252 the year before at Malvedos (one-third less), the vintage was over by September 15th. Charles Symington noted at the time that we finished up on the same date that we would have been starting in a more typical year.
Also of note in 2017 was the early ripening of the Touriga Franca, typically the last variety to be picked, which came into the winery almost a full three weeks ahead of normal, with a staggeringly low average yield of 650 grams per vine. Similar conditions were recorded at Vale de Malhadas in the Douro Superior and at Vila Velha and Tua in the Cima Corgo each of which supplied wines for the 2017 Graham’s Vintage Port. The quality of the Touriga Franca was so good that Charles increased its proportion in the final 2017 blend, relative to the two preceding Graham Vintages. The performance of the Touriga Franca is one of the surest barometers of a Vintage Port year.
The reason why back-to-back declarations have been so rare is that in the Port trade we have always had the luxury of comparing the attributes of the best wines from two consecutive years prior to committing to bottling the older one as a classic Vintage Port, typically at nineteen months of age. Normally one or other year stands out, making for a relatively easy choice. In the case of 2016 and 2017, we were faced with a true dilemma, with both years demonstrating outstanding quality and clear potential for ageing, albeit with very different characteristics. After many tastings and much debate over the relative qualities of the two Vintages and given the extremely positive evolution of the 2017 wines following the bottling of the 2016 in 2018, our family decided that our only option was to follow up the 2016 with a further declaration of the 2017
