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Wine Description
The Story
The extraordinary quality of the wines from the Malvedos vineyard is such that in Vintage declarations these wines provide the main structure of Graham’s classic Vintage Ports. In most interim years, the wines from Malvedos merit bottling as a Single Quinta Vintage Port: Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port.
Graham’s Malvedos Vintage Ports have won an astonishing collection of awards at the world’s major international wine competitions over recent years, with 14 Gold medalsover the last two decades, clearly outperforming all other Quinta Vintage Ports.
Like the great wines from the top estates of Bordeaux, Single Quinta Vintage Port is made from the grapes of a single harvest and from an individual estate. Single Quinta Vintage Ports are produced and bottled in the same way as Vintage Ports, but they are made in undeclared years. These wines are very similar, and very good value alternatives, to classic Vintages and express the character of the terroir from which they come.Malvedos Vintage Ports are bottled without filtration and so will continue to age like a classic Vintage Port. They are usually drunk approximately 8-10 years after harvest but will almost always continue to age well for far longer.
Graham’s Malvedos Vintage Port presents the Graham’s style admirably, with its expressive floral characteristics and opulent blackberry fruit flavours. It is usually more approachable at a younger age than classic Vintage Port, therefore providing an excellent alternative while waiting for the latter to fully mature. Quinta dos Malvedos 1988 Vintage Port was the first ever Port (and in fact, the first ever Portuguese wine) to be ranked in the prestigious Wine Spectator’s annual ‘Top 100 Wines of the World'. It also won gold medals in two consecutive years at the London International Wine Challenge.
Vintage 2018
After an extended drought, rain finally came to the Douro in spring 2018 in such quantities that there was some damaging erosion. Following that, summer was hot, and yields were consequently low, but the classic varieties thrived in the heat, producing deep, intense, fragrant wines.
The 2018 growing season was a rollercoaster, consisting of a winter drought, a deluge in spring and heatwaves through the final ripening period. There was almost three times the average amount of rainfall in March at Quinta dos Malvedos, which meant that the growing cycle started later. As a result, the berries were more vulnerable to the heatwaves during the final ripening period, when temperatures reached 43oC at the estate.
The Touriga Nacional benefited from the added soil moisture and delivered the estate’s signature eucalyptus and mint notes. The late-ripening Touriga Franca from the estate’s higher-lying vineyards, thrived in the hot harvest days and contributed ripe black fruit flavours, while the Sousão delivered a wonderful freshness.
