2015 Smith Woodhouse - Porto Late Bottled Vintage (750ml)

Smith Woodhouse was founded in 1784 when Christopher Smith, a Lord Mayor of London, set up a small company to ship Port from the Douro, later joined by the Woodhouse brothers whose name completed the firm's identity. The Symington family acquired the house in 1970 alongside Graham's, and it remains part of their portfolio today, valued among Port lovers as something of a hidden gem relative to its better known siblings. Its wines are sourced largely from the Rio Torto Valley, an area whose later ripening cycle gives Smith Woodhouse a distinctive floral character reminiscent of roses and violets.

This 2015 was made in the traditional style reserved for a single strong vintage year, spending four years aging in wood before being bottled unfiltered in 2019. Rather than releasing it immediately, as most Late Bottled Vintage Ports are, Smith Woodhouse held the wine for a further six years of bottle aging in its own lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia. This extended combination of wood and bottle maturation, unusual for the category, gives the finished wine a depth and complexity that edges closer to true Vintage Port than most LBVs achieve.

The color is deep and richly saturated, with a nose of ripe plum, black currant, and dark chocolate. On the palate the wine is full and mouth filling, balanced by peppery tannins and a long, structured finish. It suits a hearty aged cheese or a simple plate of dark chocolate.