Graham's First Flight Colheita Port 2003 (Portugal)

Graham's First Flight Colheita Port 2003 (Portugal)The Grahams 2003 Colheita is at a beautiful stage in its development, combining opulence, grace and complexity. It retains a youthful, deep crimson centre, bordered by an orange brown rim that denotes the considerable length of time spent in seasoned oak casks. On the nose, it reveals alluring soft caramel aromas with hints of vanilla and toffee overtones. Full, creamy and sensuous on the palate with mouthfilling flavours of red fruit preserves and

The Graham’s 2003 Colheita is at a beautiful stage in its development, combining opulence, grace and complexity. It retains a youthful, deep crimson centre, bordered by an orange-brown rim that denotes the considerable length of time spent in seasoned oak casks. On the nose, it reveals alluring soft caramel aromas with hints of vanilla and toffee overtones. Full, creamy and sensuous on the palate with mouthfilling flavours of red fruit preserves and marmalade.

This Port was made in 2003, an excellent harvest in the Douro Valley and the year that marked aviation’s centennial, 1903-2003. Peter and Charles Symington, Graham’s father and son winemaking team, chose the finest wines of the vintage, part of which they selected for bottling as Vintage Port, whilst a further selection of the finest lots were earmarked for long-term ageing in seasoned oak casks for future release as Colheita Port; wines from a single harvest (‘colheita’ means harvest in Portuguese). When Peter retired in 2009, Charles succeeded him as head winemaker and taster and having closely followed the wines’ development he decided to further mature the 2003 wines in wood prior to bottling. The Graham’s 2003 Colheita release has been named ‘First Flight’ in celebration of the first century of aviation.

2003 is remembered throughout Europe as having had one of the hottest summers on record with temperatures of 45°C+ in many parts of the continent, which caused problems with over-ripeness in many winegrowing areas. Such high seasonal temperatures are not unusual in the Douro, and the vines did not suffer undue hydric stress, largely because of the good ground water reserves which the wet winter provided. Yields were low (averaging just 0.9 Kg/vine at the Malvedos vineyard) but the quality was remarkable; the Touriga Franca variety — one of the most reliable barometers of a good year — was beautifully ripe and made an important contribution to the lots destined for ageing as Graham’s 2003 Colheita Port. In his harvest logbook, Charles Symington made the following entry, dated October 3rd, 2003: “It is rare to have such good weather and the grapes in such fine condition. Baumés were not too high and acidity levels were normal, both clear proof that we had not had excessive heat. Yields were very low as is the norm for the Douro.”

Founded in 1820 by William and John Graham in Portugal’s Douro Valley, for nearly two centuries Graham’s has cultivated its reputation as one of the greatest names in Port. The quality of Graham’s Port relies on the finest grapes, primarily sourced from five iconic quintas in the Douro Valley: Quinta dos Malvedos, Quinta do Tua, Quinta das Lages and two others, Quinta da Vila Velha and Quinta do Vale de Malhadas, which are privately owned by members of the Symington family.

Food Pairing: Graham’s 2003 First Flight Colheita Port is an excellent accompaniment to dark chocolate, caramel or vanilla based desserts, and can also be enjoyed alone, as a dessert in its own right. It is recommended that the wine be served lightly chilled to enjoy it at its best. Once open, the wine will keep in good condition for up to a month.