1994 Vesuvio, Grahams & Dows

What happened?
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Axel P
Taylor Quinta de Vargellas 1987
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1994 Vesuvio, Grahams & Dows

Post by Axel P »

Gents,

I just came back from the Douro valley and couldnt resist the temptation of comparing 3 of the leading 94 VPs at Grahams. I organized this in advance to had it done:

To do the general part in advance: all three wines were totally intense and concentrated. Amazing. Only the very small transparent edge all around the wines show that these are not 2000s. The violett reflexions of a young VP are gone and were replaced by very dark-red tones. The intensity of the structure is amazing. The tears after turning the wines set in very very late.

Dows 94 VP (almost no decanting time): Least intense nose of the three. Red berries, Cassis, very fresh. In the mouth the wine gives you exactly what you smell, but much more intense. Very long aftertaste. Perfect Dows, where you dont expect the sweetness of the others.

Vesuvio 94 VP (30 mins): A slight bit lighter than Dows and Grahams. In the nose you find a medicine touch and many spices and herbs, sweet. Aftertaste lasts longer than on the Dows. Best Vesuvio from my point of view.

Grahams 94 VP (30 mins): Very deep and complex nose with spices, sweet. The fruit at this stage is present, but individual notes are hard to point out. Best nose. In the mouth you have exactly what you expect to get from the nose: an explosion of the spices and the elegant sweetness of a great Grahams VP (I looked up my TN from the end of the 90s and found out, that it was hard to get individual notes from the Grahams 85 there as well, so it might be, that the individual fruit notes are developing at a later stage). An almost endless aftertaste. Perfect drinkable now but even more rewarding if you can withstand the temptation.

In my victory ceremony the Grahams has the lead and Vesuvio and Dows are sharing second place going for totally different styles as the Symington VP drinker is aware. But second place here means you are in a whirl pool with the swedish bikini team telling Agnetha she is second place...
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