1988 Smith Woodhouse Madalena Vintage Port

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 12:53 pm

I came across this in a local wine merchants - never heard of it before but at £17 seemed worth a punt....

Decanted cleanly off lots of thick black crust. Bright red with just a slight tinge of dark rust brown when entering the decanter - lots of big fruity aromas as I poured 8)

First Taste
Beautiful clear bright red in the glass wth just a hint of browning - a very attractive colour. Tears are thick and clear and the nose is quite young. A nice thickish mouthfeel with tons of red fruits. A small amount of heat after a few seconds fades quickly and develops into a decent long finish with watering cheeks.

Obviously fully mature - this is an impressive start. More later....

Derek

Frederick Blais · Post by **Frederick Blais** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:17 pm

I'm keen to hear more on this. I've seen it too many times on the shelves but was never attracted to buy it. Your review does come in good time.

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 1:34 pm

Fred,

I will post more later but am interested to know the price of this in Canada - it is excellent value for an off the shelf VP here in the UK at £17 including tax.

Derek

Robin L. · Post by **Robin L.** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:28 pm

Hi Derek,
SW Madalena 1988 is 44.75 $CAN, so circa 19£.

Tom Archer · Post by **Tom Archer** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 2:37 pm

Oh!

I thought Madelana made it's debut in the 90's

One more for the list!

Tom

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:17 pm

+3 Hours
Darker now but still bright and clear. Mouth feel has thickened significantly. Black cherry and chocolate dominate but now seems a little tannic and dry in the middle. The small amount of heat is distracting for a few seconds but quickly fades into that nice long mouthwatering finish.

My first note said this is "obviously fully mature" - now I'm not so sure.

Derek

I must keep some for tomorrow
I must keep some for tomorrow
I must keep some for tomorrow
I must keep some for tomorrow
I must keep some for tomorrow
I must keep some for tomorrow
I must keep some for tomorrow
I must keep some for tomorrow
I must keep some ........

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 4:27 pm

+27 Hours

A beautiful raspberry cream smell when pouring from the decanter. Darker and slightly more brown than I remember from yesterday. Lighter mouth feel but very smooth with a satisfying warmth. The dry tannins have gone now. Dark chocolate cherry truffle, slightly bitter and still has that nice long finish.

I like this very much and will be going back for more so that I can see how it evolves over time.

On Tom's scale, definately above average for my taste and ahead of most SQVP's I have tasted recently. Where is it going? I am no expert but my guess is that this is at its peak now but still has enough backbone to last at least 5 years before starting to fade. I give this 7-6

Go buy some, Fred, I would like to know what you think of this.

Derek

Derek T. · Post by **Derek T.** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 3:48 pm

Price correction - I went back to buy more of this and the price is £18.49 - still good value and around the same price as noted above in Canada.

I bought 4 bottles and plan to drink them at 2 year intervals - then again, they could all be gone by Christmas

Derek