20 Year Old Tawny Port

About this wine

Graham's 20 Year Old Tawny is matured for about twenty years in seasoned oak casks which gives it a warm amber colour and a pronounced nutty character on the nose. The palate shows concentrated dried fruit and toffee notes balanced by bright citrus peel and steady acidity, producing a silky, softly sweet mouthfeel. The wine is made from traditional Douro red varieties and Graham's sources fruit from its top quintas in the Douro Valley, which contributes floral lift and layered structure. Alcohol sits around twenty percent, a result of fortification during fermentation which leaves residual natural sugar and stabilises the wine for long ageing in wood. The finish is long and refined with lingering notes of walnut, spice and baked fruit, showing the balance between maturity from wood ageing and the liveliness of Douro fruit.

About the grape

The blend in Graham's 20 Year Old Tawny relies on traditional Douro varieties each with a long local history, starting with Touriga Nacional which emerged as a low yielding but highly aromatic grape centuries ago, recovered through clonal selection in the 1970s and now contributes structure and concentrated flavors to fortified wines. Touriga Franca developed in the Douro and often provides aromatic lift and supple tannins, it is more reliable in yield than Touriga Nacional and is commonly planted on schist terraces for port production. Tinta Roriz, the Portuguese name for Tempranillo, has Iberian roots and is prized in the Douro for adding body and ripe red fruit, it adapts to different exposures and is often used to bring backbone to long aged tawnies. Sousão and Tinto Cão are older Douro varieties used in small amounts, Sousão is valued for deep color and freshness and tolerates warm sites, while Tinto Cão supplies finesse and acidity from cooler plots, both are planted sparingly to balance the wine during maturation in cask.

Quick facts

• 🕰️ Graham’s 20 Year Old is a blended “aged tawny,” assembled from many vintages so each bottle is a time-capsule of decades rather than a single harvest.
• 🪵 Its mellow, nutty character comes from aging an average of 20 years in seasoned oak casks in Graham’s historic Gaia lodge, built in 1890, rather than long bottle aging.
• 🏡 Although the Graham name goes back to 1820 when two brothers accepted port as payment, the Symington family—who still own Graham’s—have stewarded this 20‑year style for more than 50 years, giving it a distinct family-era personality.
• 🍇 The bottle is made from grapes typical of the Douro—Touriga Nacional, Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinto Cão and Sousão—so its flavors are a concentrated snapshot of classic Portuguese varieties aged into caramel and dried fruit notes.
• 🔓 Graham’s labels the 20 Year Old as ready-to-drink on release and surprisingly long-lived after opening—recommended enjoyment extends up to about eight weeks once uncorked, which is unusually generous for a fortified wine.

Palate profile

Producer

W. and J. Graham’s was founded in 1820 in Porto by brothers William and John Graham, who shifted from textiles into Port after accepting 27 barrels of Port in settlement of a debt. The house built its landmark ageing lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia in 1890 and in the same year acquired Quinta dos Malvedos in the Douro Valley, a key estate for many of its classic Vintage Ports. In 1882 Andrew James Symington arrived in Porto to work with the Grahams, beginning a long family association that later shaped the company. The Symington family acquired Graham’s in 1970 and has continued to develop its reputation, including marking the brand’s 200 year anniversary in 2020.