Graham's Port

Through the outstanding quality of their vintages, Graham’s has upheld its historical reputation as among the highest class of Port producers.

By Shani Lynn Rogers on Wednesday 23rd November, 2011

Over several centuries the Graham’s estate has advanced both critically and commercially, but has been admirably maintained as an independent family affair. The Graham’s Port legacy was seeded from the well-established business enterprise of William and John Graham in the 1800s. They had already maintained corporate interests in their native Scotland along with India and the Portuguese region of Douro, apparently dealing in textiles. Already renowned merchants, they established W & J Graham and Co in 1820, to exclusively produce the finest in Port Wines.

The family was deeply committed to their operations towards developing a more direct relationship with the area. A significant step towards this aim was their innovative investment in the Upper Douro vineyards and the subsequent acquisition of the Quinta dos Malvedos in 1890. Interpreting more than 70 years worth of knowledge, they ingeniously anticipated the benefits of the location: incredibly warm continental weather, fine granite soil, and gradients complimentary to drainage, fostering grapes of an incredible variety.

The iconic Quinta dos Malvedos on the Douro Valley is a beautiful heritage estate that has come to represent the long-standing quality of Graham’s vintage port. In the year of the Quinta’s acquisition, the Graham family was also dedicated to the construction of a lodge to ensure the best storage conditions for their wines, utilising the ideal temperate maritime climate for slow ageing. During these developments they chose not to internalise the business; instead they maintained close relationships with fellow owners who were loyal and respected suppliers since the company’s founding days.

The Symingtons, another esteemed port lineage, were integrated into the Graham’s family enterprise when they were sold the estate. They too have always possessed unsurpassable specialist knowledge and dedicated experience, thus the impeccable quality of the Graham’s vintages has never faltered. Family members are still very involved in the running of the estate, spending real time working in the vineyard and the lodge, determining harvest times and directly supervising the vinification.

Though Graham’s has turned to innovative technological methods of production for the most part, the traditional activity of treading is still used on a small portion of the harvest. Graham’s use of shallow stone treading tanks or ‘lagares’ for some of its produce is a heritage method, which has become rare on a global scale. Nonetheless, their groundbreaking automated treading machine has proven to produce beautifully refined vintages.

The Port also gains its classic character from the fermentation process. As Port is a fortified wine, involving the addition of a natural grape spirit to the fermenting juice, the fermentation process is relatively brief. At this stage, around 50 per cent of the grape’s natural sugar is ceded by alcohol, turning the liquid into a perfectly luscious nectar. Subsequently, the Graham’s winemakers are further dedicated to extracting the most flavour, colour and tannins from the grape skins.

So what of the final product, borne of perceptive business developments, passion and immersion in the Douro wine making industry? According to a great deal of critical praise, W & J Graham’s ports are the ultimate, heightened versions of other vintages. A Graham’s red is a deep, mesmerising ruby; a fruity, floral aroma is rather an exuberant bouquet of violets or plums mingled with heady spices; an otherwise strong palette is translated into an enthralling concentration of tannins, texture, rich, sweet and spicy flavours.

Moreover, Graham’s vintage ports have been honoured with an impressive number of awards in the last year, such as those for International Wine Challenge, The International Wine and Spirit Competetition, and the Decanter World Wine Awards.

Throughout the 20th century, W&J Graham’s has produced some of the most legendary vintage wines, and an unforgettable vintage port in 1948. With an unflinching reputation for passion and quality, the company has continued to be regarded as the best in vintage port.

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