Smith Woodhouse 2003
Vintage Port
The 2003 Smith Woodhouse Vintage is of outstanding quality, powerful and muscular with a long life ahead of it.
Description
This Vintage, as those before it, was made in the traditional way, with the grapes from Smith Woodhouse's jewel, the Madalena Vineyard, providing the finest wines for the Vintage blend.
Madalena is a small 10ha, A-rated vineyard in the Rio Torto Valley, an area famous for the high quality of its production. The microclimate in the "Torto" valley is characterised by sustained periods of very high temperatures which encourage excellent maturation of the grapes. The resulting wines show rich, fresh fruit with remarkable concentration.
Our Expert's Recommendation
"This young wine should be allowed to age in its own bottle for at least 15 to 20 years from the time it is bottled to achieve its optimum maturity. For those who prefer to drink their Vintage Port young, 4 to 5 years are sufficient."
Press Comments
"Intense, pungent nose. Complex, fine. Very fresh fruit, clean. Full palate, fresh, has depth and structure."
"Enjoyable ripe fruit and earthy components. Full-bodied and medium-sweet, with lovely ripe tannins. Finish goes on and on".
“Spicy scents of esteva and black, schisty tannins give this wine impressive clarity. There’s a rich core of fruit in the middle, just the right weight to balance the heat of the alcohol. That plumy fruit tastes pure and fresh, and should age with finesse”.
“A fine, foursquare wine from one of the Symington-owned Port houses. It shows good tannins, delicious perfumed fruit and great ripeness. Along with this attractive fruit, there is an impressive streak of dry tannins which promise good aging”.
"Tight-knit and impenetrable at this stage with dense, bitter chocolate concentration of flavour. Explosive finish. Amazingly powerful wine from this ‘second string’ house. Likely to be very good value."
“Opaque dark ruby-purple with citrus, spice and violets on the nose. SW delivers a drier fruit profile, is medium-full bodied, and exhibits fleshy plum and cranberry flavours which are texturally pleasing. This is a well-made big and balanced wine. Astringent tannins stand out beneath the big fruit and assert themselves on the developed and lengthy aftertaste. This is a cellar worthy Smith Woodhouse VP”.
“Purplish crimson. Vigorous, savoury, not especially sweet. Grown-up vintage port. Lovely weight and integration. Already hints at complex flavours to come”.
“Symington’s less famous but often-high achieving label”.
"This smells like crushed grapes with hints of leaves and earth. Full-bodied and chewy, medium-sweet, with a mouthpuckering finish. This Port house always overachieves its reputation. Almost 95-100."
Additional Information
For more information about Smith Woodhouse, please visit
http://www.smithwoodhouse.com/
Click here to download the wine specification sheet.