Port Blend Wine

Winemaker Description

10 Years" indicates an 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 reddish amber color. Graham's is known for its rich, elegant house style. This 10 Year has a full, nutty bouquet, the classic Graham's richness and a soft lingering finish.

Graham's 10 Year is bottled ready to drink after an average of at least ten 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 two to four 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 10 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.

Expert Reviews 

93 Points James Suckling | A very pretty wood port with cherry, berry, walnut and chocolate aromas and flavors. It’s full-bodied and very sweet with focus, density and length. Fruity, yet pleasantly earthy. Drink now and enjoy. 

91 Points Wine Enthusiast | The wine is rich, ripe and fruity with good acidity as well as a bite of spirit and old-wood aging. It is well balanced, keeping the freshness of a 10-Year-Old while also showing good signs of its wood aging. Just what a 10-Year-Old should be.

90 Points Wine Spectator | This has a zesty, sweet floral aroma, with delicate, well-spiced flavors of apple tart, flan and cocoa powder. The plush, mouthfilling finish of cream, vanilla and raspberry is fresh and balanced. Drink now.

 

93 Points Wine Enthusiast | The quinta, situated in the prestigious Torto River valley near its mouth at the Douro, is now producing some fine Ports. This Vintage, superficially soft and fruity, is in fact still packed with dense tannins, giving a solid structure, some maturing sweetness and black fruits. The wine will be ready from 2028.

Jancis Robinson 16.5/20 Points | A more traditional bottle shape than most of the Quinta da Côrte wines. Darkest, inky crimson with a deep cherry rim. Rich earthy spice and warm blackberry fruit with dark chocolate notes and lots of spice, cardamom, for example. Complex and inviting. Tastes sweeter than the LBV 2015. Great power, packed with spice and very ripe black fruits. A savoury, earthy intensity even with all this fruit. The tannins are chewy and thick but already relatively supple for a vintage port. More noticeable freshness than on the LBV and better balanced than their unfortified Douro reds. Long and deep and still a baby. 2025 - 2035"

98 Points Wine Spectator | This packs a lot of fun, with a wallop of blackberry, fig, boysenberry and açai berry compote flavors working together, laced with a mouthwatering licorice snap note and driven by a fresh, well-detailed finish. A roasted apple wood accent is integrated as well, lending textural contrast through the vivacious finish. Best from 2030 through 2055.

98 Points  Decanter | Based on Touriga Franca with Touriga Nacional and Sousão. Tight-knit, with firm, rapier-like tannins on the palate – a ramrod all the way through with the opulence and flesh of the fruit on the finish. Fine-grained with great purity and expression. Leaner and much more restrained in style than others: the drier style of Dow works really well in ripe years such as 2016 (as it did in 2011). Outstanding wine for the long term.

97 Points Wine Enthusiast | Very floral, intense and ripe, this is a wine that is based around big black fruits as well as fine acidity. It is obviously destined for long aging with its powerful dry tannins and perfumed acidity. Drink this wine from 2028.

96 Points James Suckling | Aromas of blueberries, blackberries and dried flowers plus hints of slate follow through to a full body, very fine tannins and a driven and linear finish. Orange peel and dried fruit. Sleek and racy. Ready to try in 2024.

93 Points Robert Parker | The 2016 Vintage Port, bottled in May for release in October 2018, is mostly a 48/31 blend of Touriga Franca and Touriga Nacional, with various other grapes and some very old vines for the rest. It comes in with 111 grams of residual sugar. This is a very elegant Dow's, but there is certainly both power and concentration lurking underneath. Adding fine fruit, it is expressive and sophisticated, a very refined offering that seems not quite as burly as in some years. It is still exceptionally appealing, but it was curiously understated when seen. Some bottle shock, perhaps? The fresh 2016 Vintage? This is an illustration of Charles Symington's philosophy, as relayed to me, that the "wines should be in harmony from the first day." I don't think this will be a great Dow's, but it is an enjoyable one. If it wakes up, it might be entitled to an uptick. For the moment, between the top blends in the Symington stable, I'd lean to Graham's as the best in this vintage. Both are easily outclassed by the single-plot wines. There were 5,480 cases produced.

The principal part of the Dow’s 2016 Vintage Port is sourced from the Vinha dos Ecos vineyard, a gently rising slope behind the estate house at Bomfim. Planted in 1988, these mature Touriga Franca vines yielded a tiny 0.68 Kg/vine, half the 20-year average. From the adjoining Vale Botelhos vineyard, on traditional drystone terraces, Charles Symington chose Sousão grapes for the excellent colour and freshness which the fine acidity of this variety provides. The grapes from these two vineyards were fermented together in the modern lagar winery at Bomfim. These co-fermentations work very well, the characteristics of each variety amplifying the other’s finest qualities; the Sousão’s acidity matching the Franca’s floral aromas. A small component of very old mixed vines from the vineyard directly in front of the Bomfim house, yielding a minuscule 320g/vine, contributed added complexity and structure.

The other indispensable component of any Dow’s Vintage Port, Quinta da Senhora da Ribeira, contributed exceptionally well-ripened grapes from its mature Vinha Grande vineyard whose east-facing aspect and 200 to 450 metres of altitude, proved beneficial in the very hot and dry conditions, shielding the Touriga Nacional vines during the ripening cycles. Senhora da Ribeira’s small riverside Zé Barqueiro vineyard supplied Alicante Bouschet which gives the wine great structure and weight. Senhora da Ribeira’s production was vinified in the Quinta’s small lagar winery. Winemaker Description.

Winemaker Description

The Churchill flagship quinta has produced a serious style of Port. Dry and richly structured, it also has jammy red-berry fruits that will cushion the firmness.

Churchill’s purchased the estate of Quinta da Gricha in 1999, and it quickly formed the spiritual heart of the house, and is where all the wines are made today before being sent downriver for aging in Vila Nova de Gaia. Winemaker Description.

Expert Review

93 Points Wine Enthusiast | The Churchill flagship quinta has produced a serious style of Port. Dry and richly structured, it also has jammy red-berry fruits that will cushion the firmness. Drink the wine from 2029.

 

Wine Enthusiast 95 Points | This delicately perfumed wine opens to reveal power combined with elegance. The wine has great ripeness—a soft texture on the surface masking the severe tannins at the center.

A fragrant aroma of well ripened fruit; supple and polished tannins give structure and length on the palate, with a rich sweet flavour and crisp mineral freshness. Herbal and dark fruit notes on the aftertaste. Winemaker Description.

Wine Spectator | Elegant and balanced, but a little short on concentration. Medium ruby-purple, with a spicy plum nose, medium-bodied, with clean fruit flavors, medium tannins and finish.

Wine Advocate | Sandeman is one of the biggest and most conspicuous of the port houses, with extensive interests in the sherry business as well. They advertise significantly and their products are well-represented in virtually every American marketplace. The quality is quite good given the quantity of wine produced...The 1985 has less of a deep-ruby/purple color, but it does offer a spice-box, fruitcake sort of aroma, mildly sweet, medium- to full-bodied flavors, and a ripe, tasty finish. Not a heavyweight, this wine represents a lighter style of vintage port.

Winemaker Description

Mature ruby color. Rich compelling perfume and elegant fruit flavors. Decanting is required. Drink within a few days.

An undoubtedly splendid vintage, the 1977 Vintage Ports combine power, elegance and refinement with the ability to live long, impressive lives. The best, and the Croft 1977 can count itself among that number, have much more to give although they are, finally!, ready to enjoy. An early maturer, the Coft 1977 retains immense character and staying power. Tawny at the rim, the fragrant bouquet is followed by chocolate-tinted red and black stewed fruits, herbs and a sweet, spicy finish.