Mini Vertical of Graham´s Vintage Port - 1970, 1977, 1980 and 1991

In our monthly tasting group the turned had come to Göran, who presented us with a very interesting line up.

First up was a yellow coloured wine that stood out next to the others.
2003 Moscatel de Setubal Domingos Soares Franco, Jose Marie da Fonseca
This had a yummy, upfront nose with notes of candied lemons, ointment, acetone, lemon fudge and a touch of cinnamon. Not that deep and complex but oh so delightful.
The taste is big, sweet and gulpable with lovely note of sweet lemons, apricot marmelade, lavender honey and some saffron notes. Medium long, sweet finish. Again, not heaps of complexity but lip smacking good.
I actually got Setubal right but I was some decades from the correct age...
87p   (tasted 2013/01)

And then we were faced with four glasses of what seemed to be some kind of port wine (all tasted double blind). We all gravitated towards vintage port, single quintas, LBV, but didn´t get that is was the same producer, and the age guesses we should discuss no further...
All were decanted three hours before we tasted them.

1991 Graham´s Vintage Port
A dark, restrained, powerful nose with notes of dark chocolate, toasted almonds, bee wax, some rubbery notes and nutmeg. Very interesting and still very young. Very deep.
The taste is big, intense and tight with lots of raisiny sweetness and notes of dark chocolate, nougat and nuts en masse. A long, broad, good finish with a fine structure. Very, very good. This needs time, I would say 10+ years, even 20.
91p   (tasted 2013/01)

1980 Graham´s Vintage Port
A deep, satisfying, sweet and elegant nose with notes of dades, green raisins, orange chocolate, dark chocolate and dried summer flowers. Really fine. It has depth, power and grace. And on its way to maturity.
The taste is tighter than the nose leads on, with intense notes of toasted almonds, dark chocolate, figs and some blackberry notes. A lot of backbone still. This is more mature than the 91 but could still use 10 years in the cellar.
93p   (tasted 2013/01)

1970 Graham´s Vintage Port
The first sniff felt fine but there was a tiny wiff of moist cardboard boxes alongside the sweet fruit. And sorry to say, that kept evolving all evening. Corked - too bad, it felt like there was a really fine wine here.
No rating   (tasted 2013/01)

1977 Grahams´s Vintage Port
A sweet, intense, deep nose with lovely notes of blackberries, raisins, toasted almonds, chocolate covered nuts, wet earth and balsa wood. Very, very good. But this feels younger than the 80 and almost as young as the 91. When will this be mature?
And the taste feels even younger with loads of stunningly sweet, intense, broad black fruit together with notes of orange peel, sweet licorice, figs and dark chocolate. A very, very long, fresh finish. My last words in the tasting note (before I knew what it was) was "has potential"...
Give this baby 10+ years more years.
92p   (tasted 2013/01)

A great line up and really interesting to taste. And to answer Niklas question - no, you shouldn´t, not if you like mature port anyway and are older than 20...