Wine Article
NV Graham Porto 20 Year Old Tawny
Last edited on 12/14/2007 by Eric
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winemaker's notes:
"20 Years" indicates and average age – this Aged Tawny Port is a blend of older wines, which offer complexity and younger wines, which bring fresh fruit flavors and vibrancy. During their long maturing period in oak casks, Aged Tawnies undergo subtle color changes: the deep red hue which characterizes Port's youth gradually gives way to a paler golden amber color. Graham's is known for its rich, elegant house style. This 20 Year has an intense, nutty bouquet, the classic Graham's richness and a concentrated, lingering finish. Many consider the 20 Year to be the perfect blend of complexity and vibrant fruit when it comes to Aged Tawny.
Serving and pairing suggestions
Graham's 20 Year is bottled ready to drink after an average of at least 20 years of cask aging. It has a t-cap closure, which means that you don’t need a corkscrew to open it and that it will stay fresh for four to six months if stored in a cool, dark place or refrigerator. Serve it in a glass with at least a six ounce capacity so that you may appreciate the wine's aromas. Graham's 20 Year is delicious when paired with milk chocolate, creme brulee or fruit tarts. In warmer months, try it chilled for a refreshing dessert in a glass.
In the Douro valley the best grapes are used for vintage port, and aged tawnies like this one. Graham's belongs to the Symington family (owners of Dow, Warre, Smith Woodhouse, and the Madeira Wine Company). The main estate is a beautiful, isolated farm high up the Douro Valley called Malvedos, where most of the Graham wines are made in a modern winery. While vintage port is bottled firm and fruity after a couple of years in wooden casks, old tawny spends years mellowing in cask."
More info...
Storage instructions: To enjoy this wine at its best, drink within 2 years of purchase.
History: This blend of ports will have a minimum average age of twenty years, although some wines blended will be younger or older than twenty. A long maturation period in oak cask where Old Tawnies undergo subtle colour changes, results in a delicate amber colour with a concentrated and nutty nose, mature raisiny fruit aromas with hints of honey.
Winemaking details: Graham's 20 Year Old Tawny underwent fermentation with natural yeast at between 24°C - 28°C in autovinification tanks. After approximately 48 hours, fortification with grape brandy took place, arresting fermentation at the desired degree of sweetness. CONTAINS SULPHITES.
Regional info: Made from grapes grown at Quinta dos Malvedos, Quinta da Vila Velha and outstanding properties in the Rio Torto Valley in Northern Portugal.
Fine, aged tawny remains one of Port's best-kept secrets. Nothing can compare to the intensely concentrated yet delicate flavors of a Port aged for decades in cask. It's little wonder that it's the preferred post-meal drink for most members of the Port trade. A fine old tawny can be so hard to find and is so seldom publicized that it makes you wonder if Port producers actually want us to overlook this category of fortified wine completely. That leaves more for them to consume themselves.
Well-aged tawnies are without a doubt the most difficult Ports to produce and certainly the most costly--especially such rarities as 20-year-old, 30-year-old and older. Compare vintage Port to tawny and you can easily understand the challenge. To produce a vintage, Port shippers select their best lots of wine from a top year and bottle them after two years in cask; they age in the bottle. By comparison, aged tawnies are blends bottled after years of aging in the shippers' cellars, which costs money, and the blends can be extremely complex, using dozens of wines.
"These aged tawnies are definitely the most challenging to make," said Peter Symington, the winemaker for Graham, Dow and Warre. His family owns all three of these shippers as well as Quarles Harris, Gould Campbell and Smith Woodhouse. "What's most important is that they have to be good wines from the beginning. It's my job to find the best wines and later blend them for these tawnies."
Most Port shippers make their blends in one of two ways. Some rely on a mod- ification of the solera system used in making Sherry, casks of blends topped off with younger wines. To produce tawnies, shippers select casks that contain wine with an average age of 10 or 20 years. Their style or age is maintained through tasting and periodically topping up the barrels with old and young wines as part is bottled or lost through evaporation.
The other blending method, which is more difficult, takes several wines from various vintages and incorporates them into a final blend. This may include two or three dozen different wines, similar to the way a Champagne house makes its non-vintage blend.
A tawny designated as a 10-, 20- or 30-year-old is a blend with an average age and does not note the absolute age of the wine. This is similar to what premium Scotch producers do.
"20 Years" indicates and average age – this Aged Tawny Port is a blend of older wines, which offer complexity and younger wines, which bring fresh fruit flavors and vibrancy. During their long maturing period in oak casks, Aged Tawnies undergo subtle color changes: the deep red hue which characterizes Port's youth gradually gives way to a paler golden amber color. Graham's is known for its rich, elegant house style. This 20 Year has an intense, nutty bouquet, the classic Graham's richness and a concentrated, lingering finish. Many consider the 20 Year to be the perfect blend of complexity and vibrant fruit when it comes to Aged Tawny.
Serving and pairing suggestions
Graham's 20 Year is bottled ready to drink after an average of at least 20 years of cask aging. It has a t-cap closure, which means that you don’t need a corkscrew to open it and that it will stay fresh for four to six months if stored in a cool, dark place or refrigerator. Serve it in a glass with at least a six ounce capacity so that you may appreciate the wine's aromas. Graham's 20 Year is delicious when paired with milk chocolate, creme brulee or fruit tarts. In warmer months, try it chilled for a refreshing dessert in a glass.
In the Douro valley the best grapes are used for vintage port, and aged tawnies like this one. Graham's belongs to the Symington family (owners of Dow, Warre, Smith Woodhouse, and the Madeira Wine Company). The main estate is a beautiful, isolated farm high up the Douro Valley called Malvedos, where most of the Graham wines are made in a modern winery. While vintage port is bottled firm and fruity after a couple of years in wooden casks, old tawny spends years mellowing in cask."
More info...
Storage instructions: To enjoy this wine at its best, drink within 2 years of purchase.
History: This blend of ports will have a minimum average age of twenty years, although some wines blended will be younger or older than twenty. A long maturation period in oak cask where Old Tawnies undergo subtle colour changes, results in a delicate amber colour with a concentrated and nutty nose, mature raisiny fruit aromas with hints of honey.
Winemaking details: Graham's 20 Year Old Tawny underwent fermentation with natural yeast at between 24°C - 28°C in autovinification tanks. After approximately 48 hours, fortification with grape brandy took place, arresting fermentation at the desired degree of sweetness. CONTAINS SULPHITES.
Regional info: Made from grapes grown at Quinta dos Malvedos, Quinta da Vila Velha and outstanding properties in the Rio Torto Valley in Northern Portugal.
Fine, aged tawny remains one of Port's best-kept secrets. Nothing can compare to the intensely concentrated yet delicate flavors of a Port aged for decades in cask. It's little wonder that it's the preferred post-meal drink for most members of the Port trade. A fine old tawny can be so hard to find and is so seldom publicized that it makes you wonder if Port producers actually want us to overlook this category of fortified wine completely. That leaves more for them to consume themselves.
Well-aged tawnies are without a doubt the most difficult Ports to produce and certainly the most costly--especially such rarities as 20-year-old, 30-year-old and older. Compare vintage Port to tawny and you can easily understand the challenge. To produce a vintage, Port shippers select their best lots of wine from a top year and bottle them after two years in cask; they age in the bottle. By comparison, aged tawnies are blends bottled after years of aging in the shippers' cellars, which costs money, and the blends can be extremely complex, using dozens of wines.
"These aged tawnies are definitely the most challenging to make," said Peter Symington, the winemaker for Graham, Dow and Warre. His family owns all three of these shippers as well as Quarles Harris, Gould Campbell and Smith Woodhouse. "What's most important is that they have to be good wines from the beginning. It's my job to find the best wines and later blend them for these tawnies."
Most Port shippers make their blends in one of two ways. Some rely on a mod- ification of the solera system used in making Sherry, casks of blends topped off with younger wines. To produce tawnies, shippers select casks that contain wine with an average age of 10 or 20 years. Their style or age is maintained through tasting and periodically topping up the barrels with old and young wines as part is bottled or lost through evaporation.
The other blending method, which is more difficult, takes several wines from various vintages and incorporates them into a final blend. This may include two or three dozen different wines, similar to the way a Champagne house makes its non-vintage blend.
A tawny designated as a 10-, 20- or 30-year-old is a blend with an average age and does not note the absolute age of the wine. This is similar to what premium Scotch producers do.