1983 Smith Woodhouse

[Alex Bridgeman]

Deeply coloured wine, dark red and with a centre that was only just opaque. Quite a closed nose, shows sweet and pleasant with lots of cinammonand a bit of heat. Light texture, quite acidic entry but plenty of fruit and a good palate presence. Nice layers of complexity which never quite stop delivering, while all wrapped up in a soft milk chocolate. Quiet on the aftertaste, takes a long time to develop but then lasts a long time. 91/100. Drunk 21 July 2009 after 14 hours double decanting.

[DRT]

A very dark brooding wine. Treacle and blackcurrant on the nose. Smooth and silky entry with blackcurrant and chocolate cherry truffle. Lots of tannin and a nice long finish.

My wine of the night.

Derek

[uncle tom]

A very nice wine, not quite in the same mould as some other SW's, and a tad short of full maturity.

Pipped by the Ramas Pinto '85 as my wine of the night, but not far behind.

Tom

[WS1]

Hi there,

I had this wine as Derek a couple of times before and I was never disappointed. Great Vintage Port that may get the critics to be not as complex as you would expect from a Smith Woodhouse as well as it tend to be quite tannic and strong in structure (in my humble opinion)
Still again one of the Ports I like but also prefered the Ramos Pinto 1985 that evening.

regards

WS1