The History
Graham's Port began in 1820, when brothers William and John Graham, who were initially textile traders, were given 27 barrels of port wine as payment for a debt. The high standard of this wine convinced them to change their business completely to port production in Portugal's Douro Valley, founding the house named after them.
For many years afterward, Graham's functioned as a shipper, buying grapes from local farmers while developing skill in blending and ageing. In 1890, the company made a crucial move toward controlling its supply chain by purchasing Quinta dos Malvedos, its most important estate. It is situated on the north bank of the Douro River between the Pinhão and Tua rivers in the Cima Corgo subregion.
This 164 hectare property has 90.6 hectares of vineyards planted to Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Barroca, Alicante Bouschet, and old mixed field blends on schist soils with different sun exposures. That same year, Graham's built its lodge (warehouse) in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the Douro estuary from Porto, to use the area's steady, damp climate for long-term barrel ageing. The lodge, enlarged over time, now stores about 3,500 oak casks and pipes holding several million liters of maturing port.
Expansion of the Estate
More estate purchases happened in the late 20th century, increasing Graham's control over its grape sources. In 1999, the company bought Quinta do Vale de Malhadas in the Douro Superior subregion, a 145-hectare site with 31.8 hectares of vines on steep, north- and east-facing slopes falling from 326 meters elevation to the river at 88 meters. These plots, mixed with olives and almonds, produce concentrated grapes from Touriga Nacional and other traditional varieties suited to the area's low rainfall of around 400 millimeters yearly.
Quinta da Vila Velha was added in 1987, though used by Graham's later, with its 145-hectare area next to three kilometers of the Douro's south bank and 55 hectares of terraced vines mainly planted to Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca, and old mixed plantings. The newest addition, Quinta do Tua in 2006, covers 59.7 hectares total, of which 21.9 hectares are vineyards on 18th-century dry-stone walls overlooking the Tua River junction; these old, mixed-variety plots, over 50 years in age, include a notable amount of Touriga Nacional restored through earlier vine-growing tests on the site. Combined, these four estates total 201 hectares of vineyards across the Upper Douro and Douro Superior, supplying the essential fruit for Graham's ports.
The Symingtons
Ownership transferred to the Symington family in 1970, when the third generation, grandchildren of Andrew James Symington, bought the house from the Grahams. This change happened at the same time as the praised 1970 vintage, bottled as a declaration year and recognized for its balance of structure and fruit.
The Symingtons, who also own Cockburn's, Dow's, and Warre's, keep Graham's as one of the few British-founded port houses under the control of a single, independent family. Under their management, the house celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2020 with a limited Bicentenary Collection, using grapes from high-altitude, northwest-facing plots across three estates.
Viticuture
Vine-growing at Graham's focuses on minimal interference, with all Symington vineyards, including those for Graham's, certified under sustainable management standards and 130 hectares farmed organically, the largest such area in the Douro. Grapes are hand-picked into small crates to keep them whole, with vineyard practices customized to each site's microclimate: Malvedos gets 600 millimeters of yearly rain and balanced sun, while Malhadas faces drier, hotter conditions that intensify flavors in its low-producing old vines.
Winemaking
Winemaking happens mainly at the small-scale facility at Quinta dos Malvedos, built in 1890 and modernized with three robotic lagares in 2000 to copy the temperature and pressure of foot-treading. Harvested grapes are hand-sorted and gently destemmed before fermentation in these granite tanks, where the juice reaches 8-9% alcohol by volume. Fortification with aguardente stops fermentation, keeping about 90-100 grams per liter of residual sugar, after which the young wines settle in large tonéis over winter. These are then moved by truck to the Gaia lodge for further work.
Blending is the task of Master Blender Charles Symington and his team, who judge wines through tasting alone, no laboratory measurements guide choices on which components to use or when to release a wine. This method guarantees consistency across styles, using a collection of wine parcels aged for decades. Ageing happens only in the 1890 Gaia lodge, where the nearby ocean influence lessens temperature changes.
Graham's has its own barrel-making team led by Master Cooper: Alberto, who care for the lodge's hundred-year-old casks through repairs and seasoning. This direct, practical tradition highlights the house's dedication to wood-influenced development, which is fundamental to port's character.
The Wine Range
Graham's makes a wide range of fortified styles, all from red grapes of the Douro's traditional varieties. Vintage Ports, made in outstanding years like 1970, 2000, 2016, and 2022, age 18 months in used oak vats before being bottled without filtering; further development happens in the bottle without oxygen, keeping deep ruby colors, firm tannins, and layered black fruit flavors that gain violet, spice, and mineral notes over 20-50 years. Late Bottled Vintage expressions, like those from Malvedos or Tua single estates, lengthen wood ageing to four through six years for earlier drinking. Tawny Ports, including aged reserves, mature oxidatively in 550-liter oak pipes or smaller casks, creating nutty, dried-fruit characters and brick-orange colors; contact with air speeds this change, with younger blends like 10- or 20-Year Old Tawnies showing caramel and orange peel, while Colheitas (single-vintage tawnies) from years like 2004 gain rancio and tea-like depth after 12+ years in wood. Ruby reserves such as Six Grapes blend recent harvests aged for a short time in wood, offering fresh berry fruit without extended oxidative notes.
