#356 Graham's 1963 Vintage Port

I don't often venture into the cellar looking to take out one of my old wines.  As prices keep rising, buying old, mature wines is getting far too expensive so I do tend to treasure my old stock, and my port collection especially so.

But last night, I thought 'what the hell' and after a lovely dinner, I cracked the wax seal on a bottle of 1963 Grahams.  Granted, I picked the bottle that was slightly seeping, but found that this wine was in superb condition.

A bricky red colour greeted me in the glass, with a light, yet rich, sweet aroma of cherry, blackcurrant and a lot of prunes.  There was also some toffee, coffee and mint coming off with a bit of Cherry Tunes (cough sweets) - cherry and eucalyptus - followed by mint chocolate.  The palate was quite boozy at first, with darker, leathery flavours.  These led onto a spicy, raisin and date flavour, mixed with coffee beans and black pepper.  There was a slight rich honey sweetness on the start of the finish, with toasted spices and sweet berry compote.  This is a super wine, approaching its half century, and is still too young.  I have two bottles left, and I want to keep one until it is a pensioner, as I think it will be getting great then.  Currently, 8.5/10 but this could, at the right time, be a perfect wine.