Grahams 1963 (750ML)

97 WS / 96 RP / 96 WA / 17.5 JR

This is a monumental wine with a great balance of fruit and tannin. Medium ruby with a garnet edge, enticing nose of bitter chocolate and plums, full-bodied, with chocolate and raspberry flavors, medium tannins and a very long finish. - James Suckling, Wine Spectator

Graham is another great port house, producing one of the deepest-colored and sweetest styles of vintage port. Along with Taylor and Fonseca, Graham has probably been the most consistent producer of great port in the post- World War II era. Their tawnys are quite good rather than exceptional, but their vintage ports are truly sublime and sumptuous. - Robert Parker

Tasted at dinner at Christies boardroom. What a stunning 1963 vintage port this is! The bouquet draws you in, does not drag you in with its alcohol and reveals a fresh, well defined nose with a nutty edge, hints of cigar box and allspice. The palate is beautifully balanced, understated on the entry but building all the time, flashes of eucalyptus leading towards a more extrovert, clove tinged finish that hangs around the palate like an obsessed ex-girlfriend. Gorgeous Grahams! Drink now-2030. Tasted May 2009. - Neal Martin, Wine Advocate

Dark blackish ruby. Intense and gamey. Not as fresh as the 1970s. Treacle-toffee flavours. Not quite as fresh and beguiling as the 1970. Slightly drying and hot on the end. (The vintage that saved the port trade, which was still reeling after the war. 1963 Cockburn was £7 a case sold by Robin Wodehouse. In the 1950s most of the Brits went back to England because they couldn’t see the future of port. This wine was made on several farms, before the Symingtons bought Graham's, and it was the last vintage made on the farms – no electricity, the only technology was a thermometer.) - Jancis Robinson