Graham's 1890 Port Lodge
For this second installment in our “the world's best wine shops” feature, we head to Portugal, to the town of Vila Nova de Gaia, located only a few kilometres from Oporto. The wine shop in question is located inside the Port Lodge that bears its name, Graham's.
The entire building was renovated a few years ago (2011) by a team of Portuguese architects, headed by Luis Loureiro and Nuno Gusmao. Major changes were made to the Lodge structure and its architectural features and spaces were redesigned in a minimalist style, which means that visitors to the Lodge are in for a delightful experience.
Focusing now on the wine shop itself, this is almost entirely housed in the old part of the building, very close to the main stone facade. The large windows allow the light to pour in and naturally light up the whole space. They afford spectacular views over the river Duero as well as Porto’s historic city and the town of Gaia.
The main difference between the new shop and the old is that visitors can now pick up the bottles they want to purchase themselves, whereas, before the renovation of the Lodge, they had to ask the shop staff for the bottles.
The shop (and Port Lodge) receives around 77,000 visitors a year, hailing mainly from France, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Italy, Russia, China, South Korea, England and Brazil.
QUICK Q&A
How many different Ports and wines do you stock?
We have around 80 references
How much wine do you usually stock? We have around 3,200 oak casks (550 litres), 2,000 larger barrels (tonel) and vats and an old vintages cellar including a 1868 vintage
What’s the oldest Port in the shop right now?
Grahams’s Ne oublie Harvest 1882
What’s the cheapest Port in the shop right now? How much does it retail for?
Graham’s Fine White, €8.95
And the most expensive and its price?
Grahams’s Ne oublie Harvest 1882, €6,500.00
What countries do the wines come from?
All our Ports and wines are from the Douro region of Portugal.
VIP visitors to Graham’s Port Lodge:
- 1924 – President of Portugal, Manuel Teixeira – the first to baptize a barrel
- 1992 - HBM Ambassador, Hugh Arbuthnott
- 1992 – H.M. British Consul, Jeffrey Thomas
- 1993 – Primum Familae Vini to Porto
- 1993 – H.M. British Prime Minister, John Major
- 1995 – Prime Minister of Australia, R. J. L. Hawke
- 1996 – United States Ambassador, Mrs. Elizabeth Frawley Bagley
- 1999 – Cardinal of Madrid, António Maria Varela with the Bishop of Oporto
- 1999 – President of Portugal, Jorge Sampaio
- 2001 – The Royal Shakespeare Company
- 2001 – Jacques Santer, President of the E.U
- 2009 – Her Royal Highness, Princess Michael of Kent
- 2009 – Latvian Minister, Valdis Dombrovskis
- 2009 – Ambassador of Austria, Mr. Bernard Wrabetz, and Mr. George Riedel
- 2010 – His Royal Highness, Prince Edward Duke of Kent, KG
- 2012 – President of Poland, Bronislaw Komorowski
- 2013 – President of Portugal, Anibal Cavaco Silva
