1986 Graham's Malvedos

[DRT]

Tasted as part of a vertical of 24 Graham's and Graham's Malvedos vintages at The RAF Club, Piccadilly, London, on 22nd March 2010.

The links:

• Organisation thread;
• Placemats;
• 1955 Graham’s Vintage Port;
• 1957 Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port;
• 1958 Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port;
• 1962 Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port;
• 1964 Graham’s Quinta dos Malvedos Vintage Port;
  
• 1965 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1966 Graham;
• 1968 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1970 Graham;
• 1976 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1978 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1979 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1982 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1984 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1985 Graham;
• 1986 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1987 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1988 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1990 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1992 Graham's Malvedos half bottle #1 and; half bottle #2;
• 1995 Graham's Malvedos half bottle #1 and; half bottle #2;
• 1996 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1998 Graham's Malvedos;
• 1999 Graham's Malvedos;
• 2001 Graham's Malvedos;
• 2004 Graham's Malvedos;
• 2006 Graham's Malvedos;
• 2008 Cask Sample (work in progress)*;
• Review of the evening as a whole.

*Please note that the 2008 Cask Sample was donated to this tasting by the Symington family before the final blend was complete so this may not accurately represent what the 2008 Graham's or Graham's Malvedos will be, should either of these be approved and declared later in 2010.

[jdaw1]

Alas I was unable to take a tasting note of this port.

[Andy Velebil]

Alas I was unable to take a tasting note of this port.

Go buy some, actually buy lots of it.

[DRT]

Wine searcher is currently showing just one bottle available world-wide

The sad truth is that this wine has probably been drunk to near extinction before it had a chance to reach its full potential. Bummer.

[JacobH]

Extremely dark; perhaps twice as dark compared to the 1985 . Oldest wine to still have a notably tannic backbone. Massive nose, as with the 1987 but perhaps ever so slightly less fruit which is why I thought the 87 just pipped it.

A real shame that there is so little of this around that this is likely to be the only time most of us will be able to taste it.

[benread]

On the night I wrote "Buy!". I am however enjoying a small glass tonight that was brought home in a sample bottle.

This is a big wine, with lots of fruit on the nose, and beautifully integrated to taste. In my humble opinion, it will only get better for many years to come, and I hope I can find some bottles to allow me to test that!

This was my wine of the night.

[DrDirk]

This is a port juice: much too young. A fantastic port which needs some more time to develop all its finesse. Very, very good.

[Andy Velebil]

1986 Graham’s Malvedos Vintage Port:
Still such youthful dark colors, darker than the 1985, with a tight nose only later giving up some deep dark fruit. Dense chewy tannins immediately assail the palate and never seem to stop. Lovely dark berries and pepper are still very much in their infancy. The one thing which really stood out was how fresh this was, showing more like 2000 VP. This has a long way to go before it matures and one of the better showings of this I’ve had in a while. I was torn between 95-96 points and couldn’t decide. So my score stands at 95-96 points.