2000 Graham Porto Vintage

Community Tasting Notes (129) Avg Score: 93.2 points

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  4/25/2024 - forceberry wrote: 94 Points

  The wine is a blend of traditional Port varieties (mainly Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Barroca, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Amarela) harvested from the five Symington quintas in the Douro Valley: Quinta dos Malvedos, Quinta do Tua, Quinta das Lages, Quinta da Vila Velha and Quinta do Vale de Malhadas. Bottled unfiltered in 2002. 20% alcohol, 110 g/l residual sugar and 4,58 g/l acidity.
  
  Dark yet still moderately translucent black cherry color. The nose feels sweet, brooding and slightly perfumed with dark-toned aromas of ripe black cherries and blackberry jam, some fragrant minty and floral tones, a little bit of dark chocolate, light dried-fruit notes of dried figs and raisins, a hint of exotic spices, a touch of coffee and a whiff of blueberry liqueur. The wine feels rich, balanced and - true to the Graham's style - quite sweet on the palate with a full body and intense flavors of overripe bilberries and boysenberry jam, some cool, fragrant minty tones, a little bit of bittersweet dark chocolate, light stewed strawberry tones, dried-fruit hints of raisins and dried figs and a touch of dark-roast coffee. Not only is the wine moderately high in acidity, but also pretty stern and chewy with its ample and still moderately grippy tannins that make the wine feel pretty robust and muscular. The finish is sweet, quite warm and moderately grippy with a long, powerful aftertaste of cherry marmalade, some blueberry liqueur and boysenberry jam tones, a little bit of minty greenness, light notes of ripe strawberries, a hint of dried figs and a touch of coffee. The wine ends on a warming, grippy note.
  
  I had tasted this wine some 11 years ago and back then I thought the wine wasn't as tightly-knit as many Graham's VPs are and maybe not among the most long-lived vintages. Well, now - having tasted this wine next to Graham's 1994 and 2016 VPs, I must admit that age has done some things to this wine! It seems that the wine must've come softer, sweeter and fruitier in its youth and now, after age has polished away some of the fruit and sweetness, the wine comes across as surprisingly muscular and structure-driven for a Graham's. Yes, the wine retains that richness and marmaladey sweetness of the house style, but the overall feel is still surprisingly firm and serious for such a rich wine. Ten years ago I wrote how one should wait until the wine is 20-25 yo before popping it open. Now, at 23½ years of age, the wine still seems surprisingly youthful and obviously on an upward trajectory - the other people in the tasting even said that this vintage wasn't particularly enjoyable compared to the more accessible 1994 and 2016! However, I was sold - and I admit that I was wrong with my initial, decade-old tasting note - this is turning out to be a very fantastic and long-lived vintage of Graham's Vintage Port after all! Superb stuff that really benefits from additional cellaring - expect the score to go up as the wine ages. This winery re-release may be a bit on the pricey side at 140€, but at least you get a wine with impeccable provenance straight from the Graham's lodge!

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  4/19/2024 - Lord of the Bottles Likes this wine: 92 Points

  Small glass after many bottles. Not quite the complexity of the ‘70 Cockburn’s served alongside but your requisite chocolate, fig and stewed fruit notes. Very good. 91-92

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  3/22/2024 - Brent25 Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Delicious and mouth filling; it packs a punch but acid and fruit make it too easy to drink; enjoyable but will get even better with a few more years; from 375ml; not blinded

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  12/27/2023 - Frank Schneider wrote: flawed

  Corked

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  12/13/2023 - ipp Likes this wine: 93 Points

  great balance. delicious

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