Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny Port 75cl

Product Information

On the palate, an array of flavours flourishes, mainly to toasted nuts and chocolate. The 40 Year-old is an intense and complex port with a mellow and spicy aftertaste. The Symington family is the dominant force in the Port trade. They own 2,400 hectares of land in the Douro Valley across 26 individual Quintas (Estates) where over 1,000 hectares are planted with vines. They own several well-known brands of Port, and since 1999 have been producing table wines from the Douro. As of 2017 they are also owners of an estate in the Portalegre sub-region to the north east of the Alentejo - their first outside the Douro - with the first wines released in 2019.

A tawny port aged in the Douro ages differently and more rapidly than that aged in the cooler conditions of Vila Nova de Gaia where most of the shippers’ lodges are to be found. Here, annual evaporation tends to be no more than 1% or 2%, whereas in the Douro the figure is around 3%. One single quinta making 10-year-old tawny estimates that by keeping the wine up in the Douro, the ageing process is accelerated by around 30%. A higher rate of evaporation serves to concentrate the natural residual sugars and the higher temperature produces wine with a distinctive toasted richness, known as ‘Douro bake’. In our view the twenty year category is the perfect balance between value and quality. The Port has spent significant time aging so that the fruit is a little less dominant and in balance with the barrel notes. the tannins and alcohol have mellowed and intergrated. At 20 years aging in oak, the Port will have colours ranging from a reddish to golden Tawny, these exceptional wines are full of fruit and their flavours are more developed and concentrated due to the fact that the wine was aged in small oak casks. The extremely intense aromas and flavours are reminiscent of toasted vanilla and dried fruits, with delicate hints of oak.Tejo was formerly known as Ribatejo is known for good, everyday drinking wines in a range of styles from a wide range of permitted grapes. This region lies on either side of the River Tagus White! Rose! Tawny! Vintage! There are different ports for different people. Whites are bright and best served chilled, vintage ports are pricier, but ready to sit in your cellar. Rose ports are a happy medium – easy for sunny days, after dinner drinks, and beyond.

Champagne: Spring frosts followed by one of the hottest summers on record led to small volumes and typically very ripe wines of middling quality. However, 2003 did produce some fine Pinot Noir-dominant blends. White port – Best served cold, white port is delicious and refreshing with a splash of tonic, and makes a great alternative to your beloved G&T. Often drunk as an aperitif, we’d recommend serving it with a side of salted almonds. Are you planning on letting your port rest for years? Consider a port with age-worthy qualities. Look for vintages that show potential, or consider vintage bottled-aged ports that are crafted to sit for years to come. Like its neighbour Spain, Portugal has been undergoing something of a quiet revolution over the last twenty years or so. A reluctance to follow trends and plant international grapes is now paying dividends and the new breed of full-blooded, fruit-filled wines are more than able to compete on the world stage. The unique flavours that are the hallmark of Portugal's indigenous grape varieties have become its trump card. This cookie is set by Rubicon Project to control synchronization of user identification and exchange of user data between various ad services.

Rosé port – Just like rosé wine, here you can expect to find notes of strawberries and raspberries, alongside a caramel sweetness. Cheese, chocolate, fruity puddings and sorbet are all excellent pairings – serve ice cold for maximum enjoyment. Bucelas was the first wine The Society ever sold! This tiny DOC is one of the closest to Lisbon. It produces breezy dry whites which are popular locally. Ruby port – These tend to be inexpensive, deep ruby-coloured, and often associated with the cheeseboard. Within this category, you’ll find your slightly more premium reserve ports, late bottled vintage port (otherwise known as LBV, these are aged for longer but still designed to be drunk young) and vintage ports. How we test port Pol Roger Portfolio has announced the release of the second in its series of limited edition Glenfarclas decanter bottlings.

Provided the wine has been well nurtured, a certain amount of bake can be a positive characteristic in a mature tawny. Many shippers use a small component of Douro-matured wine in their aged tawnies. The main shippers look to maintain their own house styles, but it is the ageing process which is of crucial importance to the style and character of a tawny port. In small casks or pipes of between 600 and 640 litres, the wine undergoes a slow process of oxidation and esterification as the colour fades and ethyl esters and acetals develop in the wine. To use the local parlance, the formation of these volatile components – known colloquially as vinagrinho (little vinegar) – are directly influenced by the ambient storage temperature and the rate of evaporation. Single Quinta Vintage Port – These ports are produced from a port house’s best vineyards in a great year, but may not be quite good enough for a declared Vintage Port. Great with cheese.An outstanding Tawny Port Wine from Sandeman Port. A rich yet elegant combination of flavours - dried apricots, honey, nuts, spices, vanilla - creates an endlessly complex wine that unfolds smoothly and develops in the mouth. The real thrill of a great tawny comes from those wines bottled with an indication of age. Four are permitted: 10, 20, 30 or 40 years old. The component wines used in blending aged tawnies are mostly sourced from A/B grade vineyards in the Cima Corgo or Douro Superior, but there are a number of properties in the Baixo Corgo such as Quinta do Vallado and Quinta de Santa Eufemia which are making some fine aged tawnies of their own.

Between the mountains and the coast, on fertile clay soils, is Bairrada (barro is Portuguese for clay). Better known for red wines, this is one of the only wine regions in Portugal to be dominated by a single grape variety,the tannic, high-acid baga, making wines that can be tough and astringent in their youth but which soften with age, becoming beguilingly perfumed. These days many blend baga with non-indigenous grapes to make a friendlier style, but the greatest are pure baga. The area also benefits from late-afternoon breezes which favour the production of fresh, food-friendly whites and increasingly popular sparkling wines. Burmester, Fonseca, Niepoort, Noval, Sandeman, Taylor and Ramos Pinto all produce 20-year-old tawnies in the premier league. The port shippers themselves often prefer to drink a 20-year-old in preference to vintage. The refinement of a 20-year-old tawny befits the climate and temperament of the Douro better than the heftier, bottle-matured wines which are more at home in cooler climes. Burgundy: In Burgundy a small proportion of monumental wines from old vines were produced this heatwave year, but generally the frail Pinot Noir grape suffered raisining and made some very unusual wines indeed, some of which provided good, luscious drinking when tasted in 2008. Dry tannins are expected to make their presence increasingly felt over time. We asked the Esquire Approves panel — made up of 10 WSET-trained wine experts and consumers — to work their way through 19 port varieties from the leading vineyards and producers. Each was tasted blind and assessed on its balance of flavours, mouthfeel and length of finish.Port is a type of fortified wine produced in the Douro region of Portugal,” describes Anthony Caporale, Director of Spirits Education at the Institute of Culinary Education​. “The name comes from the city of Porto at the mouth of the Douro River, which was the hub of the port wine trade from the late 1600's. Like other fortified wines, port has a distilled spirit (in this case a neutral grape spirit known as aguardente) added to it to increase the alcohol content and help preserve the wine. The spirit is added during fermentation to stop the process, leaving unfermented sugar in the wine that gives port its notably sweet, rich character. White Port – Lauded for its bright, crisp character, white port offers refreshing notes of crisp apple, citrus and toasted nuts. Varying from bone dry to honey sweet, it can take a little trial and error to find your favourite – but trust us, it’s worth it. Amber with a coppery flash. A very appealing nose, still amazingly fresh and vibrant. There are plenty of dried red berry characters, with raisin and dried flowers, sweet toasted nuts and gentle spice. Tasting bright and vivid for a 20 year old. Silver Outstanding" - International Wine & Spirit Competition 2014