Graham Vintage 2016

99 points James Suckling

 Extremely complex aromas that show the classic Graham character of black-fruit marmalade and burnt oranges. Follows through to a full body with great grip at the finish. Lightly sweet. Chewy and powerful. Such a focus at the end  (5/2018)

96 points Vinous

 The 2016 Graham’s Vintage Port is inky black in colour. The bouquet is voluminous and intense, the aromas almost shrouding your head! Blackberry, black olive, clove and a touch of smoke, just a hint of pencil box in the background. The palate is brilliant, quite brilliant. Supple tannin, a satin-like texture, perfect balance and unerring purity, this is a fabulous Graham’s that effortlessly fans out and caresses the senses on the finish. This Graham’s has huge potential and is going to give a lot of pleasure for many years. (NM)  (6/2018)

95 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

 The 2016 Vintage Port is a blend of 37% Touriga Nacional, 42% Touriga Franca and various others. It comes in with 115 grams of residual sugar. A bit bigger than Dow's this year, this is more intense as well. The better wine of these two benchmarks seems to be this Graham's. Tight on the finish, aromatic and very flavorful, this actually opens rather well and shows off its lovely fruit. The Dow's will be approachable a bit earlier, perhaps, and this may reward aging even more. As always, Graham's is wonderfully delicious. That's one hallmark of the house. I'm not sure this is a truly great Graham's, but at the moment, it is enticing, with plenty of potential for improvement. There were 6,325 cases produced, plus some bottles in other formats. (MS)  (7/2018)

Jancis Robinson

 Backbone of Quinta dos Malvedos which saw 13 mm of rain in mid September. The blend includes some Sousão for colour and freshness. Plus lots of Touriga Franca from Quinta do Tua, the one with the old terraces (for Stone Terraces) still. Only 230 g per vine from there. Plus wine from two other properties, Quinta da Vila Velha across the river from Malvedos and Quinta do Vale de Malhadas from Douro Superior upriver -- mainly Touriga Franca. In volume, 2016 produced 25 to 30% less than in 2011 which wasn’t a big crop. 6,325 cases made, some in the traditional tappit hen size. All the Symington wines had exceptionally deep colours. This one has a particularly deep blackish-purple, still with a blueish hue. On the already-expressive nose I found prunes, something floral and a note of balsam, plus lots of freshness. Relatively open on the palate too. Rather elegant and the hugely sweet fruit almost covers a massive charge of silky tannins. This is almost like a sweet, tannic table wine. Pure and polished. Sweeter than most. One of those wines that some people might easily persuade themselves could be drunk relatively young, Satin textured. 17.5+/20 points. (JR)  (5/2018)