Graham’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port

Graham's is a Port house working in the Douro Valley of northern Portugal, a steep landscape of schist terraces where the river has cut deep through the rock. This 10 Year Old Tawny is made from native Douro grapes, chiefly Touriga Nacional with Alicante Bouschet, Tinta Amarela and Touriga Franca. As with all Port, fermentation is stopped early by adding grape spirit, which kills the yeast while plenty of natural grape sugar remains, giving a sweet, fortified wine around 20 percent alcohol. The wine is then aged in oak casks for an average of ten years. During this time controlled oxidative ageing, with steady air contact through the wood, gradually strips the deep ruby colour to a tawny amber and develops layers of nutty, dried-fruit complexity not found in younger Ports. The colour is amber with a tawny edge. The nose shows walnut, dried fig and honey. The palate is sweet and rounded, with ripe and dried fruit, caramel and a long, warming finish. Serve lightly chilled at 12 to 14 degrees in a small glass. It suits nutty desserts, cheese and after-dinner sipping.