x
  • Country ranking ?

    113
  • Producer ranking ?

    31
  • Decanting time

    5h
  • When to drink

    now - 2045
  • Food Pairing

    chocolate desserts

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

Close

Very good youthful colour, still dark garnet and only just beginning to brown on the rim; dense, solid, foursquare aromas, fine, rich and scented with lots more to give; similarly dense and rich on the palate, remarkably youthful, wonderful multi-dimensional bitter chocolate fruit, solid backbone, lovely structure and ripe tannins. Goes on and on in the mouth. UK bottled.

Close

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” ? 

Close

Wine Information

Vintage Overview

An outstanding vintage of exceptional
quality. Rather unjustly overshadowed
by the 1963. In recent years 1966 has
become recognised as being one of the
very best post-war Vintage Ports.
Declared by most of the major Port
houses.

The Viticultural Year
1966 was a wet winter in the Douro. May
brought storms and low temperatures, fruit
set was reduced as a result. July was fine
and hot, but plenty of leaf growth
prevented damage to the grapes. August
was also very hot, but the vines resisted
well due to the good water reserves in the
soil.

When young these were big, solid and
well-built wines, with a perfect balance
of tannins, fruit and acidity.

Contemporary Family
Comments
"August was exceptionally hot, twice
45°c. was recorded. Fortunately the
month ended with cooler weather and a
little rain fell, but the first week saw a
return to fine hot weather. The
exceptionally wet winter left good
reserves of moisture in the soil and leaf
growth is above average, the prospects
for quality are good."
Michael Symington
6th September 1966

Wine Specification
Alcohol by Volume: 21% v/v (20ºc)
Total Acidity: 4.35 g/l tartaric acid
Baumé: 4.0
MARKETING@SYMINGTON.

Close

Vintage 1966

Port Vintage Report: Exceptional quality. Very sweet wines and rich in tannins, some of them sublime, with large aging capacity. Almost all producers declared production. Normal winter, with some rain, but afterwards the weather became dry between April and September. Grapes with a high sugar level, some of them burned. It only rained slightly at the beginning of the harvest (end of September). Scarce production.

Declared by most of the major Port houses, it is a vintage of exceptional quality but was always unjustly overshadowed by the 1963. Solid wines with superb structure, filled with fruit and tannins they are now recognised as being one of the very best post-war Vintage Ports.

Close

Latest Pro-tasting notes

12 tasting notes

Tasting note

color

Deep, Brownish and Bright

ending

Long, Lingering and Vibrant

flavors

Licorice, Herbs and Chocolate

nose

Intense, Complex, Seductive and Refined

recommend

Yes

taste

Average in Acidity, Warming, Medium tannin, Perfectly balanced, Developing, Full-bodied, Elegant, Full and Silky tannins

Verdict

Outstanding

Written Notes

Bright ruby, garnet rim. Floral, sweet ripe red fruits, anise, nuanced, scented and detailed nose, bright, minerals, stunning nose, refined. Fresh acidity, ripe tannins, getting softer, detailed, layered, minerals, soft and gentle fruit and body, caressing and layered, perfect balance and harmony, incredible depth, stunning length. 99

  • 99p

Elegant, silky and youthful, this is a sexy wine.  Medium ruby-red, showing aromas of plums, chocolate and ripe fruit.  The palate follows through with a bounty of sweet plum flavours and a fleshy mouth-feel.  It should continue to improve with age.

  • 93p

Full, vigorous, rich and classy on the palate. Not too sweeet. This is a big concentrated, very fine example. Bags of life ahead of it.

  • 96p
Load more notes

Information

Origin

Porto, Douro

Other wines from this producer

10 Year Old Tawny Port

20 Years Old Tawny

30 Years Old Tawny

40 Years Old Tawny

Bicentenary Edition 2020 Vintage Port

Blend No 5

Ne-Oublie Very Old Tawny Port

Quinta dos Malvedos

Single Harvest Tawny Port

The Stone Terraces Vintage Por

The Stone Terraces Vintage Port

Vargellas Vinha Velha Vintage Port

Incorrect Information
If you found some information that is wrong, let us know
Are you sure you want do delete this wine? All information will be lost.
Are you sure you want to recommend this wine?
Are you sure you want hide this written note ?
Are you sure you want show this written note ?
UPGRADE MEMBER PLAN
Upgrade your membership now, it's quick and easy. We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards. Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal. You can cancel your membership at any time.
Thank you for your support!
 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

 

HOW TO USE TASTINGBOOK?

We recommend you to share few minutes for watching the following video instructions of how to use the Tastingbook. This can provide you a comprehensive understanding of all the features you can find from this unique service platform.

This video will help you get started



Taste wines with the Tastingbook


Create Your wine cellar on 'My Wines'



Explore Your tasted wines library



Administrate Your wine world in Your Profile



Type a message ...
Register to Tastingbook
Sign up now, it's quick and easy.
We use PayPal, the world's largest payment system, it accepts all credit cards.
Once you've chosen your membership level, you'll go directly to PayPal, where you can sign up for a free 7-day trial period. You can cancel your membership at any time. We wish you a rewarding journey to the world of Fine Wines.

Free 7 days Member trial

 

Member

 

Pro Member

 

Winemerchant Member

 

Winery Member

 

User

  Register