Growing Conditions
Founded in 1820 by William and John Graham in Portugal’s Douro Valley, for nearly two centuries Graham’s has cultivated its reputation as one of the greatest names in Port. The quality of Graham’s Port relies on the finest grapes, primarily sourced from five iconic quintas in the Douro Valley: Quinta dos Malvedos, Quinta do Tua, Quinta das Lages and two others, Quinta da Vila Velha and Quinta do Vale de Malhadas, which are privately owned by members of the Symington family.
Winemaking
Quinta dos Malvedos has a boutique winery with three modern treading lagares. Originally built in 1890, the winery is exclusively dedicated to producing Graham’s ports.
Installed in 2000, our modern lagares are designed to replicate the heat and gentle treading action of human feet. During the harvest, arriving grapes are sorted by hand before being gently de-stemmed and transferred to one of the lagares.
Once fermentation has taken place and the wines have been fortified, they are transferred to the lodge below and housed in tonéis (large barrels) over the winter, before being taken to the Graham’s Lodge in Gaia.
Baumé: 4.0
Aging
All our wines are aged in the Graham’s 1890 Lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia as it benefits from a cooler maritime climate. A port’s character is largely determined by the way it has been aged, and port styles can be divided into those aged in bottle and those in seasoned wood – whether small oak casks or large vats.
Tawny ports are aged in seasoned oak casks to ensure good contact with oxygen. This causes the colour to change more rapidly: from the original deep purple-red to lovely tawny shades. A tawny’s colour and taste continue to develop over the years spent in cask.
Graham’s is one of the few remaining port houses to employ its own team of coopers. Their expertise in the ancient art of cooperage is fundamental to port winemaking, and especially for wines that spend decades ageing in the lodge.
Nose
On the nose, it shows an excellent bouquet with a characteristic ‘nutty’ character and delicious mature fruit with hints of orange peel, exquisitely mellowed by careful ageing.
Palate
On the palate, it is rich, softly sweet and smooth, perfectly balanced, with a long and elegant finish.
Appearance
Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny has an amber, golden tawny colour.
Food Pairing
Graham’s 20 Year Old Tawny should be enjoyed slightly chilled and pairs extremely well with nuts, dried fruits and fruitcake but also with vanilla ice cream or crème brûlée.