So, the about 4,200 bottles of the 1952 vintage that are still being stored in Graham’s cellars are a real rarity. “Even though 1952 was not declared as “vintage”, it brought forth excellent wines”, Johnny Symington, CEO at the 350-year old family-run winery that Graham’s belongs to, explains.
Together with his employees, Mr. Symington tasted a pre-selection of the winery’s oldest ports, among them also the 1961 and 1969 vintages. “In the end we chose the 1952 port and released it for the Jubilee.” Mr. Symington explains. “The year 1952 has an immense symbolic power, and it was more by chance that we found ports left from then; usually, we do not sell this vintage.”
Berry Bros and Rudd’s, a renowned British wine trading agency, received the exclusive selling rights for the wine. The port, which is recording the year of death of king Georg VI and his daughter’s accession to the throne, has been accepted by Her Majesty personally, and the port was allowed to be labeled “To commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth II”.
Simon Field, Master of Wine, responsible for the purchase of ports at Berry Bros and Rudd’s, describes the 1952 port as “a timeless elixir with an extraordinary intensity and notes of molasses, dried apricots, figs and clove – dignified and deep…” The port is exclusively available at 275 GBP (about 333 euro) per bottle from Berry Bros and Rudd’s. Three bottles in a wooden box cost 825 GBP (about 1,000 euro), and the Jeroboam (4.5 liters) costs 1,800 GBP (about 2,185 euro).
*Colheita/Tawny: The name Colheita stands for a type of port which must have been ripening in a wooden barrel for at least 7 years and must have been vinified from a single vintage’s grapes. The vintages is printed on the label. A Colheita is, thus, to be placed between a “Vintage”, also a vintage’s port but ripened in a bottle, and an “Old Tawny”, a port ripened in a wooden barrel but vinified out of different vintages’ grapes. (red.yoopress)
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