- Colour Port_Sweet
- Producer Smith-Woodhouse
- Region Port
- Grape Touriga Nacional / Tinta Roriz / Tinta Barroca
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available Later
2024 - Smith Woodhouse - 6x75cl
- Colour Port Sweet
- Producer Smith-Woodhouse
- Region Port
- Grape Touriga Nacional / Tinta Roriz / Tinta Barroca
- Case size 6x75cl
- Available Later
Select pricing type
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Wine Advocate, May 2026, Score: 92-94
The 2024 Vintage Port is also the first declaration of Smith Woodhouse since 2016. It's a selection from the Quinta da Madalena vineyards in the Rio Torto Valley and is a blend of 40% Touriga Franca and 30% each Touriga Nacional and an old vines field blend. The grapes are 100% handpicked. Fermentation takes place with natural (wild) yeast between 26 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius. Once the must reaches the desired degree of sweetness (usually within 48 hours), fortification takes place with the addition of grape spirit at 77% alcohol by volume. It comes in at 20% alcohol, with a pH of 3.65 and 101 grams of acidity. This is probably one of the most accessible of the 2024s; it's floral and herbal, sweeter than the Dow's, charming and lovely. Softer, easier and approachable, you can drink it earlier. It matured in large oak vessels for 18 months and then was bottled. It's more affordable too. 15,240 bottles produced. Drink 2030-2048
Region
Port
Port is made in the Cima Corgo, Baixo Corgo and Douro Superior districts of the Douro Valley in the north of Portugal. The summers are hot and dry and the climate becomes more continental as you move further east towards the upper Douro Valley. Here temperatures often exceed 40 degrees. The Douro Valley has steep hillsides with terraces, which is not only aesthetically pleasing but is also extremely useful for making quality wine. The schist soils aid in drainage and have become very important to port production, so much so that much of the Douro table wines have been relegated to granite soils. The six main grape varieties used for port production are Touriga Nacional, Tinta Cão, Tinta Roriz (Tempranillo), Tinta Barroca, Touriga Francesa and Tinta Amarela. There are another 42 grape varieties that are permitted but these six are considered to be the noblest ones, each adding something different to the blend. After the harvest the grapes are trodden, often by foot but more often by machines, in giant lagars (troughs). Port is a fortified wine so during fermentation ‘brandy' (not actually brandy but a grape-distilled spirit) is added to increase thealcoholic strength to around 17-19 % abv. This leaves a sweet, red fortified wine with lots of vibrant fruit. There are many different types of Port from the Basic Ruby Ports, through to Tawny Ports and LBVs, to probably the most famous of all Vintage Port that can take 20 years to reach its peak. When mature, Vintage Port is a unique tasting experience with warm, concentrated spicy-fruit flavours and a superb length that just goes on and on.