Region : Douro/ Portugal
Grapes : Touriga Nacional、Touriga Franca、Tinta Barroca、Tinta Roriz、Tinto Cao
Alc : %
Website: www.churchills-port.com
🏅Wine Spectator 93 pts
🏅Wine Advocate 92 pts
Beware: Some Ports have a splash of white paint or chalk, called a “Splash Mark”, on the bottle. It tells you which way the bottles were cellared (splash mark up). You too should then store your Port Wine with the splash of white paint uppermost. This way, all the sediment collects uniformly on the same side.
Johnny is the fifth generation of his family tomake port in the Douro, but Churchill’s is afirst-generation company.
Johnny was born and raised in Porto asthe youngest son of the Graham port family. After hisfather sold the family business in 1970, Johnny committedhimself to learning the craft of port-making on his own. From age 20,he worked in the terraced vineyards of the Douro Valley, onthe rabelo boats bringing barrels of young port down river,and in the cellars and tasting rooms of Vila Nova da Gaia. Apprenticing underthe studied eye of port master John Smithe of Cockburn Smithe’s, Johnnyquickly learned the art of winemaking and by his late 20s haddeveloped a reputation as one of the trade’s best tasters.
Johnny could have had his pick of winemaking rolesat the top vintage houses, but that wasn’t his style. Port was morethan a trade to Johnny: it was his passion and art. He wasnot content to be a steward of a heritage style. He wanted to makehis own mark on the 200-year-old Douro D.O.C. and bring a new style to portdrinkers around the world.
Thus, at just 29 years old he set out todo something crazy: found an official port shipper in the ancient entrepotof Vila Nova de Gaia, which no one had done in over 50 years.
In a partnership with his wife and twobrothers, Churchill’s was born, producing its first vintage in 1982, morethan a full year before officially qualifying as a registered port shipper. Thecompany was named after Johnny’s wife, Caroline Churchill.
Over the next several decades, the production grew toinclude a full range of ruby and tawny ports. But one thing has remained thesame – a commitment to vintage quality port with a dryfresh style that is uniquely and classically Johnny Graham’s.
In 1999, Churchill’s acquired Quintada Gricha, Johnny’s fifth and final child. He had long had his eye on the50 hectare grade-A vineyard, going back to his days with Cockburn-Smithe’sin the 1970s. Owning and operating its own vineyard was a watershedmoment for the start-up Churchill’s, providing control over grapesupply for the first time and paving the way for entrance into Dourostill wines.
In 2002, Johnny teamed up with youngPortuguese wine maker and fellow wine rogue Ricardo Pinto Nunes, andtogether they have created the Churchill’s Estates and Quintada Gricha ranges of still Douro wines. Through these wines,Johnny and Ricardo aim to combine the rigor and discipline of vintage portmaking with the spirit of experimentation at the heart of the new Douro winemovement.
🏅Wine Spectator 93 pts
Flattering and stylish, with baked peach, quince and blood orange notes up front that give way to a finish laced with orange blossom and bergamot.
🏅Wine Advocate 92 pts
The NV 30 Years Old Tawny Porto, a field blend, was bottled in 2016 with a bar top cork and comes in with 114 grams per liter of residual sugar. This is not the most concentrated or gripping 30-year-old tawny ever but when I pulled the cork the aromas of caramel, molasses and a hint of treacle filled the area. Smooth and balanced, this is easy to drink and the finish is as long as the aromas were pungent. While in terms of power and concentration this is a bit understated, perhaps to a fault, the rest is exceptionally fine. You won't want to stop drinking it. This was tasted from a 500 milliliter bottle, to which the price applies.
