1985 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port

[Glenn E.]

Cross-posted from the Virtual Tasting Room.

Smith Woodhouse 1985 Vintage Port

The cork extracted perfectly, which is a first for me with any VP over 10 years old. It may be an optical illusion, but the cork looks longer and narrower than normal. It is stained nearly all the way up, but doesn't appear to be soaked through. Looking promising!

A drop tried to escape down the side of the bottle, which I snared with my finger. Cherries! That's a VERY good sign to me.

The color is mostly red with just a hint of purple to it, but it's a very dark red that is nearly opaque in the decanter.

Lots of raspberries with a hint of processed sugar on the nose. There's a darker overtone that I can't identify... maybe it will come out later.

First taste, it retains a lot of tannins. I'd say this isn't quite mature yet, but I don't really know how much more time it needs. Some raspberry, some grape, and some tart apple are all present. The finish is long and shows some grape skin initially followed by apple skin.

+5 hours

The darker overtone in the nose has disappeared, so I'm still not sure what it was. The color has darkened to a very rich brick red that holds true almost all the way to the rim. Just short of the rim it lightens and takes on a faint yellow tint.

The tannins have shifted from the initial impression to a bit later in the overall flavor profile. They're still very present, though not overpowering. The raspberries have faded into the background and are more subtle now. There's a bit of heat present now that wasn't there before, and there's also an initial hit of alcohol on the tongue that is quickly overwhelmed.

The finish just keeps getting longer and more entertaining. It is easily a minute now, starting slow with some green apples and then building to add green grapes before fading back to the original apple and grape skins. There's also a very faint whiff of lavender honey.

+8 hours

Not much change since the last taste, though the mouth feel is becoming almost silky. The alcohol that showed up at 5 hours is gone now, and all of the flavors are very well integrated. I'd say that somewhere between 5 and 8 hours is the perfect amount of decanting time for this one!

+28 hours

I think we're clearly past prime at this point. In general, everything has receded and what used to be silky and elegant now just seems mundane.

The color around the edge of the rim has changed a bit. The yellow is gone, replaced by an even fade from red to pink to clear. Most of the nose is gone... it just smells like Port now. I think I can still detect the raspberries, but I might be trying too hard. The flavor has now taken on a bit more of that characteristic bite I usually find, but it is fairly soft and late in the mouth. The finish is still very long, and still consists primarily of grape and apple skin.

There's nothing really wrong with it right now, but there's also nothing particularly right about it either. It's still very drinkable and very pleasant, but it's no longer something that would cause you to pause and take notes for any particular reason.

All-in-all a very good Port. As I recall I paid about $60 for this bottle, and that seems about right to me.