Graham's 1979, for those who let the angels take their share

There is an expression in the Port lodges of Gaia that I love more than any tasting note: "a parte dos anjos". The angels' share. It is the wine that evaporates from the casks over the years, the price you pay to time.

Graham's has just released a wine where the angels took almost half. It is the 1979 Single Harvest Tawny, and it now carries the name "The Artisan".

A trilogy in three ages

The wine belongs to The Cellar Master's Trilogy, three Single Harvest Tawny Ports that tell three moments in the life of a wine and of the people who look after it.

"The Apprentice" is a 1997. "The Master" is a 1961. And "The Artisan", the middle chapter, used to be a 1974. As Viva o Vinho reported in October, the 1979 now replaces it.

The idea is beautiful. A young wine still learning, an old wine that has seen everything, and between them the one that does the work.

Two generations, one decision

The 1979 was first set aside for long ageing by Peter Symington, third generation of the family and then head winemaker and Master Blender at Graham's.

Forty seven years later, his son and successor, Charles Symington, fourth generation, chose it for this limited edition. That is the part that moves me. A wine chosen by a father and released by his son, after almost half a century in the dark.

It aged in used oak casks at the Graham's 1890 Lodge, in Vila Nova de Gaia. In that time about half of the original volume was lost to evaporation.

Charles Symington put it simply: a wine like this shows that ageing Port is "both an art and a practice". There is no magic moment when it is ready. "It is up to us to make that judgement."

In the glass

According to Graham's, the nose shows honeysuckle, buttered caramel and toffee. In the mouth it is voluptuous and silky, with vibrant, fresh citrus flavours, and subtle notes of dried fruit, quince, tea and tobacco.

That combination of old wood and fresh citrus is the signature of a great old tawny. Age gives depth. Acidity keeps it alive.

A little history

• Graham's began as a textile business in Porto and moved into Port in 1820, founded by two Scottish brothers.
• The Symington family, of Scottish and Portuguese descent, has owned Graham's since 1970.
• A Single Harvest Tawny is a tawny from one single year, aged in wood and bottled when the winemaker decides. It is different from a Vintage Port, which spends only a short time in cask and then ages in bottle.

Where to taste it in Portugal

The best place is the source. The Graham's 1890 Lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia receives visitors for tours and tastings, and it is one of the most beautiful lodges on the river, with a view of Porto across the Douro.

The three wines are sold individually and as a complete Cellar Master's Trilogy Presentation Collection. In Lisbon and Porto, the serious wine merchants carry Graham's tawnies. For a limited release, call ahead.

My take

I collect wine the way I collect watches: for the people behind it as much as for the object. This release has both.

A Single Harvest Tawny of 1979 is not a wine to keep. It is ready, and it will not improve in bottle. It is a wine to open, ideally with someone who was alive in 1979 and someone who was not.

For those who let the angels take their share, patiently, for decades, Graham's has just shown what is left at the end. It is more than enough.