FLOAT 100 · Wine · No. 100
Graham's Vintage Port 2017
In one of the driest, hottest years the Douro had seen, the Symingtons began picking in August for the first time in their history and declared a second Vintage Port in a row, something five generations of the family had never done.
- Maker
- W. & J. Graham's
- By price in wine
- 99 of 100
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Create a free account- Producer
- W. & J. Graham's, founded in Porto in 1820; owned by the Symington family since 1970
- Main estate
- Quinta dos Malvedos, Douro Valley, acquired in 1890
- Other sources
- Quinta do Tua, Quinta da Vila Velha and Quinta do Vale das Malhadas
- Blend
- 47% Touriga Franca, 35% Touriga Nacional and other varieties, per one critic's note
- Harvest at Malvedos
- August 28 to September 15, 2017, the earliest the family had recorded
- Production
- 5,250 nine-liter cases
- Residual sugar
- 113 grams per liter, per one critic's note
- Alcohol
- 20%
- Critic scores
- Decanter 98; James Suckling, Robert Parker, Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator 97 each
Twenty-seven barrels and a bad debt
Graham's began by accident. In 1820 two Scottish brothers, William and John Graham, textile merchants in Porto, accepted 27 barrels of Port as settlement of a debt. They liked the wine so much that they turned their business over to Port.
The house grew through the 19th century. In 1890 it built its lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from Porto, where its wines still age, and bought Quinta dos Malvedos, the estate that has been the backbone of its Vintage Ports ever since. Malvedos sits where the Cima Corgo meets the Douro Superior and has about 89 hectares of vineyards, all in the top A grade of the Douro's vineyard rating system, much of it on narrow stone-walled terraces built by hand in the 18th century.
The Symingtons
In 1882 a young Scot named Andrew James Symington sailed to Porto to work for the Grahams. He founded a family that would come to dominate the Port trade. When Graham's came up for sale in 1970, his grandsons bought it, and today it sits alongside Dow's, Warre's and Cockburn's in the family's group.
The 2017 was made under Charles Symington, a fourth-generation member of the family who serves as head winemaker and master blender. He trained under his father, Peter, for more than a decade. Graham's ferments its Vintage Port grapes both by traditional foot treading in granite lagares and with robotic treaders, and the wine spends about two years in large wooden vats before it is bottled unfiltered.
The house received a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II in 2017, the year of this vintage, and it was renewed by King Charles III in 2024.
2017: the earliest harvest on record
A Vintage Port is made only when a house declares a year good enough, and the Symingtons had already declared 2016. But 2017 was extraordinary. A cold, very dry winter led into a year with only about 300 millimeters of rain, and a long, hot spring and summer; June brought the hottest temperature since 1980. At Malvedos rainfall was 42% below the 30-year average.
The vines ran two to three weeks ahead of normal, and the family began picking in August, the earliest harvest in its 137 years as winemakers. At Malvedos the harvest ran from August 28 to September 15, the date when picking normally begins. Bunches were small and compact and in excellent condition, and yields were the lowest of the century so far, 20% below the 10-year average. Malvedos produced 166 pipes, a third less than the 252 of 2016.
The result was the Symingtons' first back-to-back general declaration in five generations. Tasters compared the vintage with 1945, and one American enthusiast who tasted the 2017s from barrel called the Graham's the best in many years, 'nipping at the heels' of the house's tiny single-parcel bottling, The Stone Terraces.
What is in the bottle
The blend is built on Touriga Franca from Malvedos's south-facing slopes, with Touriga Nacional from Vila Velha and Vale das Malhadas, which face mostly north, old-vine fruit from Quinta do Tua and about 10% Sousao. The grapes were fermented in small batches at the Malvedos winery. One critic's analysis puts the blend at 35% Touriga Nacional and 47% Touriga Franca, with 113 grams per liter of residual sugar.
Critics describe a very deep blue-black wine with a super-ripe nose of plum, mint and bergamot and a rich, velvety, voluptuous palate in the house style, with violets, cracked pepper, tobacco leaf, chocolate and eucalyptus. Decanter scored it 98, and James Suckling, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator each gave it 97. Wine Spectator suggested drinking it from 2035 to 2055.
Graham's bottled 5,250 nine-liter cases, the same quantity as its sister house Dow's. Its single-parcel Stone Terraces 2017, from just under 3 hectares of old terraces at Malvedos, ran to only 600 cases.
Price and legacy
In October 2026 a U.S. wine shop listed a 750 ml bottle at $109.88.
Like all Vintage Port, it throws a sediment as it ages and should be decanted before serving; one guide recommends about five hours. The 2017 also helped make a case that Port's big modern vintages can be built for the long haul: after years of complaints that young Vintage Ports were too approachable, tasters described the 2017s as old school, massively tannic and acidic yet fresh.
The numbers
- Production
- 5,250 nine-liter cases
- Malvedos harvest
- August 28 to September 15, 2017
- Malvedos rainfall
- 42% below the 30-year average
- Yields
- 20% below the 10-year average
- Malvedos output
- 166 pipes, against 252 in 2016
- Blend
- 47% Touriga Franca, 35% Touriga Nacional, others (critic's note)
- Residual sugar
- 113 g/l (critic's note)
- Alcohol
- 20%
- Scores
- Decanter 98; James Suckling 97; Robert Parker 97; Wine Enthusiast 97; Wine Spectator 97; Wine & Spirits 93
Timeline
William and John Graham accept 27 barrels of Port as payment of a textile debt.
Andrew James Symington arrives in Porto to work for the Grahams.
Graham's builds its lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia and buys Quinta dos Malvedos.
The Symington family buys Graham's.
Graham's makes its first single-parcel Stone Terraces Vintage Port.
Graham's receives a Royal Warrant from Queen Elizabeth II.
Picking begins at Quinta dos Malvedos, the earliest harvest the family has recorded.
The Malvedos harvest ends on the date when picking normally starts.
King Charles III renews Graham's Royal Warrant.
A U.S. wine shop lists a bottle of the 2017 at $109.88.
The world in 2017
The United Kingdom triggers Article 50, beginning Brexit negotiations.
Emmanuel Macron wins the French presidential election.
A van attack on La Rambla in Barcelona kills 13 people.
A total solar eclipse crosses the entire contiguous United States.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft ends its 13-year Saturn mission, the day the Malvedos harvest ends.
Hurricane Maria strikes the Caribbean as a Category 5 storm.
Price record
| Date | Price | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | $110 | Asking price, not a saleRetail asking price per 750 ml bottle at a U.S. wine shop. Not a sale. |
This is an asking price, not a sale. It is what a seller wanted on the date shown. Asking prices often sit above what buyers pay, but an ask is not a ceiling: a sale can land on either side of it. It is not a value.
By reference price, Graham's Vintage Port 2017 is number 99 of 100 in the wine entries of the FLOAT 100. 12 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (100 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.
Did you know
- Graham's exists because two textile merchants took 27 barrels of Port as payment of a debt in 1820.
- The Symingtons, who now own Graham's, first came to Porto as employees of the Grahams.
- In 2017 the family began its harvest in August for the first time in its history.
- The 2017 was the Symingtons' first back-to-back Vintage Port declaration in five generations.
- Quinta dos Malvedos made a third less wine in 2017 than in 2016.
- Graham's still treads some grapes by foot in granite lagares, alongside robotic treaders.
How this page is made
- The figure
- One reference price, shown with its own kind. FLOAT does not average it with anything or adjust it for time.
- Realized or not
- A realized price is a completed sale. An asking price, an estimate and a price-guide value are not sales, and are labeled as such wherever they appear.
- The story
- Researched from published records and checked fact by fact. Updated Oct 3, 2026.
- Archive
- Oct 5, 2026