For a port, this ruby is light on its feet and refreshing. Aromas are complex. Fresh black cherry, dried plum, and mocha meld with raisin and pleasant hints of wood with spice notes tending towards garam masala.
In the mouth it opens plush and viscous but zesty acidity really lightens and lifts the midpalate, introducing a medium length finish with firm but well-cloaked tannins and becoming quite peppery at terminus.
Ports tend to be brooding and lugubrious, but this tends toward the deliciously exuberant, an occult creature charged with mystery, a freakish combination of sensual and sinister. The mordant vocals and skittering drums of Bowie’s Blackstar captured the atmosphere.
Notes: A blend of Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, and Tinta Barroca. Aged in casks for two years before bottling. W.&J. Graham’s has been making Port for two centuries. It is now owned by Symington Family Estates.
Score: 92
Price: $27
Alc: 20%
Review based on an industry sample
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