1970 Graham

Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
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Tasting notes for individual Ports, with an index sorted by vintage and alphabetically.
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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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1970 Graham

Post by jdaw1 »

Part of The 1970 Horizontal (the definite article being most appropriate all hail organiser Axel P), in The RAF Club, 128 Piccadilly, London W1J 7PY, on Friday 30th January 2009.

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DRT
Fonseca 1966
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Re: 1970 Graham’s

Post by DRT »

This was universally declared to be a bad bottle but there was no collective agreement as to the cause. I brought a small sample home to see whether or not it would improve with time. This is my note from Decanting +2 days:

Dark cherry nose. Slightly spirity. A lovely thick texture and a burst of dark fruits followed by a little heat in the mid-palate. A mouthwatering dark cherry truffle finish that seems to go on forever. Fabulous. Conclusion: Bottle stink. It is such a pity that this did not show as well as this on the night.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
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jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
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Re: 1970 Graham’s

Post by jdaw1 »

1970 Graham’s: darkest of this ♦ flight (Bank of the Douro in Cima Corgo: Cr, D, G, OBV). Nose: full lovely sweetness, plus something less good. Taste: had ‟G sweetness + cough drops + something I don’t like”.
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WS1
Cruz 1989
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Re: 1970 Graham’s

Post by WS1 »

Hi Derek,

apologies in the delay of my response, but I disagree with you. The smell of the 1970 Grahams bt (Corney&Barrow bt and from my cellar) at the tasting was similar to nail varnish remover. At the tasting I was still a bit unsure since I did not have a reference taste/bt to hand and also was cautious due to the disappointment of all "big hitters" (Nacional, Taylor, Fonsecca, Dow and Grahams) failing to show. In addition I thought it was just a bad bt with too much volatile acidity which can also lead to this smell. On the Saturday after the tasting after quite a few discussions with my friends, who were coming partly over from Germany for this tasting, I decided to open another bt (same lot as at the tasting, Corney&Barrow bt) to check. Sadly the second bt showed the same pattern as the one at the tasting. We also compared the second faulty bt with another bt of Grahams 1970 I purchased via a different source (auction) which was Oporto bottled (you remember the bt you were not exactly fond of when I sent you pictures :cry: ). The Oporto bottled bt was superb, "the true thing" despite the bt being not in very good condition ( showed signs of leakage which was the reason why it was decided not to take it to the tasting).
My friends and I believe the Corney&Barrow bottled bt at the tatsing and the bt opened the day after had a bacterial infection caught through the bottling process which can also lead to this nail varnish remover smell. It is becoming very clear since over time the smell/taste deteriorates heavily.
Also the characteristics you gave based on the sample you conserved from the tatsing I would not put down as a "true" 1970 Grahams experinence. I miss here clearly the "boldness" in tase, the very complex dynamic appearance, Honey and still strong quite primary fruit characteristics. Your tasting note states it was a very good Port after decanting + 2 days you had, for me though a Grahams 1970 should be something really special which is not comeing through (in my opinion). Funnily enough I think we did not discover the fault of the bt at the tasting during the decanting process due to the taste/smell of a "true" Grahams 1970 without bacterial infection is quite similar shortly after opening to the faulty one we had at the tasting. Only with air the bacterial infections really comes through and the difference becomes clear.

regards

Wolfgang
"Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough"
Mark Twain
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
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Re: 1970 Graham’s

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Wolfgang,

I think you may be right. In my notes I have written that there were some very strange volatile notes on the nose, but that these were not VA and that I could not identify what they were. Bacterial infection may well be the explanation.

Thanks,

Alex
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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