Smith Woodhouse Vintage Porto 2007

$149.99

Only 4 left!

Alcohol: 20%

Grape(s): Touriga Franca, Touriga Nacional and other Porto varietals

Localization: Douro, Portugal

Tasting notes: This wine's deep opaque purple color is due to the low production obtained from the very old vines used in the wines from Madalena and Vale Coelho. This wine is dominated by lovely and spicy rock-rose aromas. Rich, powerful cassis flavors on the palate combine perfectly with sweet, rich licorice and red-fruit finish. This powerful and complex Vintage Port has a huge potential for aging.

93 Points Wine & Spirits: A formidable vintage of Smith-Woodhouse, this wine is deep and rich with cool, spicy flavor. There's a dark berry thrust, parried by alcohol and black tannin, the fruit winning out in the end. It's juicy, with an ethereal balance and a hint of volatility that seems to add to the wine's energy. Smith usually drinks well 15 to 20 years from the vintage; this one may benefit from more time.

Food pairing: Chocolate desserts, such as chocolate mousse, creamy blue cheeses like Stilton or Roquefort.

The Domain: Christopher Smith, a prominent figure in the British wine trade and Member of Parliament, who was later to become Lord Mayor of London, opened offices in Oporto in 1784 to ship Port wine from the bar of the Douro. Several years later Smith's sons were joined in partnership by the Woodhouse brothers, already well established as importers of wine from other regions, and the firm became known by its present name. Smith Woodhouse built a strong clientele for more than a century, but after World War II, in common with other firms, the business became increasingly difficult. In 1970 the Symington family acquired the firm. Under the Symingtons' ownership, Smith Woodhouse continues to make some of its finest Ports by the traditional methods and has produced a succession of outstanding Vintage Ports in a characteristic opulent rich style, balanced by firm hard tannins. Most of the Smith Woodhouse wines come from the Rio Torto area in the Upper Douro, the majority of them still produced by treading the grapes by foot in stone Lagares.