2007 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port -- (Cask Sample)
Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 2:26 pm
Tasted blind at Roy's house, June 22-25, 2009. Preliminary report here.
Bottle #1: 2007 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port (Cask Sample)
Bottle #2: 2007 Sandeman Vintage Port (Cask Sample)
Bottle #3: 2007 Niepoort Pisca Vintage Port (Cask Sample)
Bottle #4: 2007 Gould Campbell Vintage Port (Cask Sample)
2007 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port (Cask Sample)
Day 1
Color: inky with a good purple tone. 3/16" fade at the rim.
Nose: very grapey, no alcohol to speak of, lots of purple fruit and some blueberry.
Palate: medium heavy body, mellow purple fruit, nicely sweet and full with fine grain tannins. The fruits are so powerful that the tannins are a bit hard to detect, but they're very much there.
Finish: lots of purple fruit followed by a tannic grip, then eventually some grape stem.
Initial rating: 90-93 points, raised to 91-94 by the end of the evening.
Day 2
Color: no change
Nose: less grapey than Day 1, some fragrant alcohol, tart/sour purple fruits, but still some blueberries to go with them.
Palate: feels like it has lost body - it's just medium today. All of the fruit, sweetness, and fullness seem lessened or muted as well. The tannins are more evident today, and there's also some acidity now that I didn't notice on Day 1.
Finish: heat, fairly tart red to maybe purple fruits, and some stem. Not as nice as Day 1.
New rating: 89-92. Definitely not as nice today. I struggled with a rating, not quite sure how to deal with the drop off.
Day 3
I didn't taste on day 3, but thought I should include it here for continuity.
Day 4 - my initial report referred to this as Day 3
Color: Very slightly more opaque. We do Day 3 in the afternoon so that we can use the natural afternoon light to check color and opacity, but I was surprised to find that #1 definitely seemed to be more opaque than previous days. With more natural light, I expected it to appear more transparent.
Nose: grape, red raspberry, and blueberry. Some fragrant alcohol, some very faint white pepper, and a nice tart/sour note.
Palate: medium body. Welch's grape juice, pepper, raspberry, and some heat. The tannins are back to feeling somewhat light and/or fine. They're there, they just don't grab you. There's also good acidity for balance.
Finish: fairly tangy, some moderately weak fruit, and some mild tannins.
Final comments: After dropping off the first day, this bottle seemed to hold pretty steady for me. Final score: 89-92.
Reveal: 2007 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port (Cask Sample). I was a little surprised by this since the last couple of SW Ports I've had have been better overall. As I recall Roy had this rated slightly higher, but not so much higher that I was concerned that my numbers were off.
Bottle #1: 2007 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port (Cask Sample)
Bottle #2: 2007 Sandeman Vintage Port (Cask Sample)
Bottle #3: 2007 Niepoort Pisca Vintage Port (Cask Sample)
Bottle #4: 2007 Gould Campbell Vintage Port (Cask Sample)
2007 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port (Cask Sample)
Day 1
Color: inky with a good purple tone. 3/16" fade at the rim.
Nose: very grapey, no alcohol to speak of, lots of purple fruit and some blueberry.
Palate: medium heavy body, mellow purple fruit, nicely sweet and full with fine grain tannins. The fruits are so powerful that the tannins are a bit hard to detect, but they're very much there.
Finish: lots of purple fruit followed by a tannic grip, then eventually some grape stem.
Initial rating: 90-93 points, raised to 91-94 by the end of the evening.
Day 2
Color: no change
Nose: less grapey than Day 1, some fragrant alcohol, tart/sour purple fruits, but still some blueberries to go with them.
Palate: feels like it has lost body - it's just medium today. All of the fruit, sweetness, and fullness seem lessened or muted as well. The tannins are more evident today, and there's also some acidity now that I didn't notice on Day 1.
Finish: heat, fairly tart red to maybe purple fruits, and some stem. Not as nice as Day 1.
New rating: 89-92. Definitely not as nice today. I struggled with a rating, not quite sure how to deal with the drop off.
Day 3
I didn't taste on day 3, but thought I should include it here for continuity.
Day 4 - my initial report referred to this as Day 3
Color: Very slightly more opaque. We do Day 3 in the afternoon so that we can use the natural afternoon light to check color and opacity, but I was surprised to find that #1 definitely seemed to be more opaque than previous days. With more natural light, I expected it to appear more transparent.
Nose: grape, red raspberry, and blueberry. Some fragrant alcohol, some very faint white pepper, and a nice tart/sour note.
Palate: medium body. Welch's grape juice, pepper, raspberry, and some heat. The tannins are back to feeling somewhat light and/or fine. They're there, they just don't grab you. There's also good acidity for balance.
Finish: fairly tangy, some moderately weak fruit, and some mild tannins.
Final comments: After dropping off the first day, this bottle seemed to hold pretty steady for me. Final score: 89-92.
Reveal: 2007 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port (Cask Sample). I was a little surprised by this since the last couple of SW Ports I've had have been better overall. As I recall Roy had this rated slightly higher, but not so much higher that I was concerned that my numbers were off.