NV Graham Porto 20 Year Old Tawny- Portugal, Douro, Porto (1/2/2021)
Sampled over several nights, this was our post dinner wine for New Year’s Eve 2020. As I have often found with this bottling, there was a distinct brown sugar quality that dominated the palate, and very little in the way of dried cherry or other, similar fruit that I often find in the Taylor or Fonseca 20 Year bottlings. It feels very much like dessert in and of itself due to that dark, sugary richness. Not my favorite Tawny, but interesting to drink once in a while.
What a coincidence, David: this is our ‘house port’, so to speak, and we’ve indulged in it a lot this holiday season, as it pairs really well with all the sugary egg yolk Portuguese Christmas desserts. It is sturdier than the Taylor’s 20 year old, as you point to, but then comes the Taylor’s 30 year old and gives both a run for their money, in my opinion.
Yes the Taylor 30 is wonderful, but I’m happier with the price point of the 20s. Grab a 30 every once in a while though. I have had the Graham’s 30 a few times, and it’s also very good, but for Tawny I am pretty much a Taylor guy.
I have very fond memories of sipping the Graham’s 30 with friends on the porch of a B&B in New Hampshire as a thunderstorm rolled in. We drank the wine as we watched the lightning come towards us across the hills.
I can’t speak for Eric but I’ve had the Ferreira 20 yr Tawny in the company of him and Andy V. That’s usually pretty good in this category. I’ve bought it for myself on occasion even thought I don’t drink a lot of Port.
Also interested in the hearing about the Portuguese vs English styles.
Graham’s 20 yr is a good “middle-tier” tawny. I’ve had lots of it over the years and it’s always been a solid and consistent easy sipper. I’d never turn down a glass of it. Like many large production tawny’s, it sits at a good price point for the quality. However, if I had a choice I do prefer many other 20 yr old tawny’s better. Ramos Pinto, Ferreira, Niepoort, Kopke and Fonseca* to name a few of the bigger companies that tend to be somewhat easier to find stateside. These tend to be significantly more money though so it’s a balance.
There is no official Portuguese style vs. non-Portuguese style. It’s something us Port Nerds came up with to describe different styles of tawny Ports. It is not absolute and there is A LOT of gray area. But there tends to be two distinct styles of tawny’s depending on who owns the House (brand). Portuguese style tends to be a bit more fruit forward in their tawnys (Think Ferreira 20 yr). Non-Portuguese style tend to be more wood and nut driven (think Sandeman 20 yr). Put these two Ports side by side and they could not be more different in color and taste for the same product that must meet the same requirements to be approved by the IVDP…
*Fonseca 20 yr didn’t used to be all that great. Over the past 4-5ish years it has gotten very very good. It is much harder to find as they don’t make near as much as they do of the Taylor’s.
andy velebil wrote:
Graham’s 20 yr is a good “middle-tier” tawny. I’ve had lots of it over the years and it’s always been a solid and consistent easy sipper. I’d never turn down a glass of it. Like many large production tawny’s, it sits at a good price point for the quality. However, if I had a choice I do prefer many other 20 yr old tawny’s better. Ramos Pinto, Ferreira, Niepoort, Kopke and Fonseca* to name a few of the bigger companies that tend to be somewhat easier to find stateside. These tend to be significantly more money though so it’s a balance.
There is no official Portuguese style vs. non-Portuguese style. It’s something us Port Nerds came up with to describe different styles of tawny Ports. It is not absolute and there is A LOT of gray area. But there tends to be two distinct styles of tawny’s depending on who owns the House (brand). Portuguese style tends to be a bit more fruit forward in their tawnys (Think Ferreira 20 yr). Non-Portuguese style tend to be more wood and nut driven (think Sandeman 20 yr). Put these two Ports side by side and they could not be more different in color and taste for the same product that must meet the same requirements to be approved by the IVDP…
*Fonseca 20 yr didn’t used to be all that great. Over the past 4-5ish years it has gotten very very good. It is much harder to find as they don’t make near as much as they do of the Taylor’s.
Thank you for your insight, Andy. Much appreciated!
Love me some Ferreira. Smaller brands I love include San Leonardo, DR, Bulas. I know the San Leonardo is imported to the States. That Ramos Pintos is also a favorite.
I’ve gone head to head on a few evenings with the Graham’s 10 and 20 year. Have yet to find the nuances between them to justify the price in the 20 year. I can find the 10 for around $20 and the 20 around $40-$45. So I usually keep the 10 around and use it as a good benchmark for my own port project.
This may be a dumb question, so apologies in advance if this is something obvious to most.
When it comes to NV ports, including the 20-30 yr olds mentioned here, how do you identify different bottlings? I assume there are various releases of these over the years. I’ve seen some great reviews of these ports but when I head to a wine shop I don’t know if I’m purchasing the recently reviewed bottling or something that’s been sitting on the shelf. Hope that makes sense.
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