Graham's Ruby Blend n° 12

€ 26.30

Designed to appeal to a new audience of port drinkers and the mixology scene, Blend Nº12 is the latest release in the Graham’s “Blend Series”.

Graham’s Port has announced an innovative new ruby port, Blend Nº12, made predominately with the famous Touriga Nacional variety, which is specifically intended for the bar scene and non-traditional port drinkers. Blend Nº12 takes its name from the fact that the high-altitude grapes are hand-picked in the middle of the night to ensure maximum freshness. These grapes are then cold fermented to preserve their primary aromas and intensity. Unlike most ruby-style ports, Blend Nº12 was not aged in oak and is bottled young to maximise concentration and flavour.

This release follows the successful launch of Blend Nº5 White Port in 2019 and marks an extension of the Graham’s Port “Blend Series”, designed to challenge assumptions about how port is typically consumed and attract a new audience of port drinkers. Initially launched in the on-trade, Blend Nº5 has successfully reached establishments which would not typically champion port – with a unique flavour profile and medium dry style lending itself to long serves and cocktails. High profile listings for Blend Nº5 include Idris Elba's The Parrot, Aqua Shard, Sexy Fish and the Electric Star group.

Both bottles are decorated with hand-drawn images by renowned Portuguese fashion illustrator António Soares. The Blend Nº12 design contains fruits that reflect the wine’s flavours - raspberries, blackberries and strawberries - as well as the gum cistus, a famous Douro flower.

Like Sandeman, Graham's is of Scottish origin. The family was originally a Glasgow textile firm, when textiles were among the goods that the British used to trade for port, along with bacalhau (salt cod).

It was in family hands until the 1970s (the Graham family later opened a new house in the 1980s named Churchill’s) when it was bought by the Symingtons, who also now own Dow’s, Warre’s and Cockburn’s, as well as producing many good quality supermarket ports. Graham's makes everything from great vintage wines to the bestselling 6 Grapes, along with excellent tawny ports – including a very special 90-year-old one, created to celebrate the Queen's birthday in 2016.

Fresh and intense aromas with notes of raspberry, strawberry and mountain herbs. Lively and concentrated on the palate, it has a refreshing acidity with an aftertaste of spice and pepper.

Food-Pairing

The perfect aperitif or used in cocktails. The perfect serve for Midnight Spritz is 40ml Graham’s Blend Nº12 Ruby, 60ml Dry sparkling wine, 1 Strawberry, ¼ Slice of Orange. Pour Graham’s Blend Nº12 over a generous serving of ice, top up with your favourite dry sparkling wine and garnish with 1 fresh strawberry and a quarter slice of orange.

Grapes: Touriga Nacional

Grapes are picked at night at the highest altitude vineyards to retain ultimate freshness. The blend is made up predominantly of Portugal’s famous indigenous Touriga Nacional grape variety. Blend Nº12 is cold fermented in it’s entirety which is highly unique for a ruby port. The cold fermentation process is considerably slower and aims to preserve the primary aromasof the grapes. Once the required sugar level is reached neutral grape brandy (77% ABV) is added. This bring the ABV to 19% — stopping fermentation which preserves the natural sweetness of the wine.

Alcoholcontent

19%

Store & Serve

Serve at 8 - 10ºC

Critics & Awards

Tags: Graham's - Douro - Porto