Wine & Spirits - Winter 2019 - 73

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Top 100 Wineries

CHARLES
SYMINGTON

QUINTA DOS
MALVEDOS

W&J Graham's
PORTUGAL | PORTO
The stone terraces at Malvedos give a new perspective on
classic Graham's style.

FOUNDED:

1820

OWNER:

Symington Family
Estates
WINEMAKER/
VITICULTURIST:

Charles
Symington
ACRES OWNED:

617

CASES PRODUCED:

220,000
ESTATE GROWN:

82%
IMPORTER:

Premium Port
Wines, San
Francisco, CA

FOR MANY YEARS, it was a tradition among the British Port
houses to release a "quinta" wine when they did not declare a
Vintage. The Symingtons have followed that tradition at Graham's since their purchase of the property in 1970. In good
years when they chose not to declare, they would produce
a Malvedos Vintage and hold it for release ten years later.
As more single-vineyard wines began to enter the market,
Malvedos became a single-estate wine, rather than a baby
brother to the Graham's Vintage blend. It shares the name
with the original Graham's family home and its surrounding
vineyard on the north bank of the Douro, now encompassing
220 acres of vines, generally facing south, building the ripe
and rich character that defines a contemporary Graham's
Vintage.
The firm, originally established by William and John Graham in 1820, acquired Malvedos in 1890; the property has
long served as the centerpiece of Graham's vintage wine. The
old terraces by the house had been built more than a century before, and follow the contours of the hillside, bending
around to a northern and eastern view. Charles Symington
decided to separate out the northerly five-acre block of old
vines in 2011, and has now released four vintages from those
stone terraces. With the most recent, his 2017, he created one
of the most compelling Graham's Vintage Ports in the history
of the brand, a wine that will live alongside his uncle James'
1970 Graham's, the first vintage made by the Symington family and still among the best. The 2017 Stone Terraces shares
the classical certainty of that 1970, benefiting, perhaps, from
the Symington family's investments in more precise viticul-

ture in the face of a changing 21st century climate.
Meanwhile, Charles Symington blends four estate vineyards into the Graham's Vintage, and ferments it in stainless-steel lagars with mechanical-foot treading, pointing
up the clean richness of the wine. He also released some
ancient single-vintage Tawnies, like the 1940. According
to his cousin Rupert, who now heads up the family firm,
"It's highly likely that the 1940 was put into barrel as
there simply wasn't the market (or bottles) for a Vintage
declaration." -J.G.
2017 Porto Vintage The Stone Terraces ($245,
100 points) Stone Terraces buzzes with purple berry flavor,
an olfactory hallucination of Douro Superior sweetness in the
pure, minor key of Malvedos. It's like sour black cherries amplified and deepened into an identifiable perfume, the tartness of
the fruit and the schist of the tannins layering that chord of flavor. If you've been to Malvedos, that scent may evoke a memory of the Douro's mix of olive trees, orange trees and deeprooted vines. If you haven't, the purity of this wine may tempt
you to go. The length, energy and impeccable balance of the
2017 Stone Terraces should sustain it for 50 years or longer.
2016 Porto Vintage The Stone Terraces ($230, 97 points)
After the silky inaugural 2011 vintage and a voluptuous
2015-both earned 96 points-the 2016 takes a step up as it
evolved with air over the course of hours and days. The flavors
lengthen out, their youthful compression and layered intensity
carrying a direct message from the schist. Meanwhile, the fruit
carries the delicious richness of a classic Graham's vintage: a
grand Port with floral notes of beeswax adding to its depth.
1940 Porto Single Harvest Tawny ($1,200, 95 points)
Europe was deep in the throes of war when these grapes ripened, eight decades ago. Anyone considering the future of the
European Union might find this wine's integration inspiring, its
powerful depths immediately apparent, even if its freshness
seems long gone. But stay with it and the wine adds scents of
stone fruit, dried apples and raw nuts to its gracious texture
and concentration. Smoky, rich and fascinating, the flavors will
expand out of a drop to completely fill your head.
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