W & J GRAHAM'S 'The Stone Terraces' Vintage Port 2016 Bottle

Description

Graham's 2016 The Stone Terraces Vintage Port is an extraordinary wine, receiving accolades from esteemed critics, including 99 points from Decanter, which praises its intensity and complex aromas of liquorice and dark chocolate. The palate reveals bittersweet dark chocolate and broad tannins, culminating in a remarkable peacock’s tail of a finish. Vinous awarded it 97 points, highlighting its precision and mineralité, with a fruit profile of raspberry, black cherries, and hints of spice. The Wine Advocate also rated it 97 points, noting its gloriously aromatic character and fleshed-out mid-palate since bottling. Wine Enthusiast awarded it a perfect 100 points for its superb concentration and promising long aging potential. This exceptional Port, primarily made from Touriga Nacional, is a true gem worth cellaring for future enjoyment.

*****

DECANTER 99 points
Tasted by: Richard Mayson (at Decanter Magazine's December 2018 issue Port 2016 vintage report, 30 May 2018) Part of Port 2016: Vintage report and top releases
Drinking Window: 2035 - 2055
Mostly Touriga Nacional from traditional stone-walled terraces at Quinta dos Malvedos, Graham’s flagship estate. Closed with a hint of liquorice and dark chocolate on the nose. Big and dense with bittersweet dark chocolate intensity and broad tannins rising in the mouth to a massive peacock’s tail of a finish. An absolute ‘wow’ of a wine. Made in tiny quantities but fabulous every time I have tasted it – this has to be the wine of the vintage if you can get hold of a bottle.

VINOUS 97 points
The 2016 The Stone Terraces Vintage Port from Graham’s demands more coaxing from the glass than the regular Vintage Port, but it has a little more precision and more mineralité, a clarity you rarely see in such young Port. The palate is super-smooth on the entry and the fruit profile is a mixture between red and black: raspberry, black cherries, cassis and hints of white pepper and clove. What I appreciate is the finish, the manner in which it almost delivers a second wave of intensity, a residual spiciness that lingers for 60 seconds in the mouth. Magnificent, but it deserves cellaring to get the most from this Port. Production is 350 cases. - Neal Martin

THE WINE ADVOCATE 97 points
Drink Date 2028 - 2070
The 2016 The Stone Terraces Vintage Port, from a specific plot, is predominantly Touriga Nacional. It comes in with 110 grams of residual sugar. This is part of our mini-vertical. When nearer to bottling last year, this was gloriously aromatic, wonderfully fresh and also quite powerful. The only thing that has changed is that it has also fleshed out a bit in the bottle, showing a bit more stuffing in the mid-palate—even if it is, perhaps, the lightest and fruitiest of the 2015-2017 trio this issue. Even so, the intensity of flavor and the wonderful aromatics compensate. Those features were always what made this special. That said, if you did not take advantage of your window to drink this young, it's probably too late now. It has closed a bit, and it's going to need some time. It has become quite tannic. Come back in a decade, although that might not be enough."
WINE ENTHUSIAST 100 points
Critic tasting note: "A superbly intense wine of great concentration, this has a generous structure and abundant ripe-fruit tones. Its tannins are fully intact, promising an immensely long aging period. It's rich, but also fresh in acidity and juicy black-fruit flavors. Drink from 2029. Roger Voss

THE WINE ADVOCATE 96 points
Extremely vinous and aromatic with flowers and dark berries. Herbal and tobacco undertones. This is very tight and chewy, showcasing so much grape-skin character character. So phenolic yet not roughly tannic. Unique. Try in 2022.