1977 Smith Woodhouse

[Alex Bridgeman]

From magnum. Dark red with some brown tones, 70% opaque. Some stewed fruit on the nose, with some bottle stink spoiling the smell. Sweet red fruit on the palate, still with plenty of dry but ripe tannins that give this port plenty of stuffing. Despite this, the palate is a little straightforward though. Chewy, dry aftertaste. A long finish dominated by slightly green tannins and green bell pepper. 87/100.

The review thread contains a list of all the ports on show at the 2014 Berry Brothers Port Walk.

[LGTrotter]

Very good clean hit. I had no problem with this, it has that light clean sweet taste I associate with the 77s I drink (Graham, Croft) and a good length. I thought the tannins fitted the wine. Again though I wondered if this bottle had been roughly handled.

[djewesbury]

Don't mean to be so consistently down on this port, but I was disappointed, again. I found it very slight and thought it somewhat flat. It was juicy, it was 'good' in a certain way, but… it left me cold.

[flash_uk]

40% opacity, red-brown, cloudy. Slightly dirty nose, jammy but also muted. Quite light mouthfeel, mildly spiritous, fruit is there, plus acidity and tannic backbone. Nice long finish.

[AW77]

My notes say: in the nose eucalyptus + tawny notes, rather lighter body, middling