Graham Vintage 1991 Magnum

Notes - Vintage Ports are only made on very exceptional years (usually three or four times in a decade). The principal determining factor is the weather in the vineyards which must be ideal throughout the viticultural season and subsequently during the harvest. Only a few exceptional vineyards in the Upper Douro region produce wines of sufficient body and style to make a true Vintage Port. After the harvest, wines of Vintage potential are put into oak barrels called 'pipes'. Some eighteen months later a careful and painstaking series of tastings is held to judge exactly which wines of different vineyards merit inclusion in the final blend. If the ideal blend is achieved, the wine is then bottled without any filtration whatsoever approximately 24 months after the original harvest. Vintage Port must then be matured for some ten to twenty years in cool dark cellars as it gradually achieves the outstanding style of a great wine. The bottles should always be stored lying down. Vintage Ports deposit a heavy sediment or 'crust' in the bottle while maturing and must be decanted prior to serving. A real stalwart wine with a very attractive nose reminiscent of blackberries and violets. Still very firm in the mouth with masses of tannins and intensely rich, succulent fruit. Superb quality showing great promise for long term ageing. "Getting better all the time in the bottle. Real blockbuster of a wine that sneaks up on you. Beautiful tar, grape and berry aromas and flavours. It's full-bodied, quite sweet and reserved, but kicks off at the end with loads of fruit and tannins. Tasted twice with consistent notes." James Suckling, Wine Spectator, July 1994, 93 Points out of 100.
 
     

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