Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port 2007
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Pair with: chocolate desserts, such as chocolate mousse, creamy blue cheeses like Stilton or Roquefort.
Professional Ratings
-
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.
-
Wine Enthusiast
As often happens, this lesser brand from the Symington Family Estates stable has produced an impressive vintage. It is structured, while also attractive, lively and fresh. There is a light layer of sweetness, the fruit bold and black, finishing with a fine, juicy aftertaste.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The purple/black-colored 2007 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port exhibits an alluring bouquet of mineral, pencil lead, espresso, violets, black currant, and fruitcake. Dense and structured on the palate, it has an excellent integration of alcohol, acidity, and tannin. It should be one of the longer lived wines of the vintage with 12-15+ years of aging potential and a drinking window extending through 2037.
Other Vintages
2016-
Spectator
Wine -
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James
-
Spirits
Wine & -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
- Decanter
-
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F.
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.