2000 Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port

While Smith Woodhouse's 2000 possesses a healthy dark ruby/purple, its muted aromatics are disappointing. Medium-bodied, with jammy fruit and moderate sweetness, this is a pleasant but one-dimensional, straightforward vintage port to drink over the next 12-15 years. Importer: Premium Port Wines, Inc., San Francisco, CA; tel. (415) 401-1700

Dark purplish crimson. Not much nose but very opulent prunes-in-chocolate palate entry with a dry, tingly exciting finish. This is good wine! Very long and exciting and with a relationship perhaps to the robotic lagar wine no. 15 described above. Again, this could be a wine that you could enjoy throughout its life. At the moment it is merely dramatic fruit juice but I think it will become quite subtle and, if not that, then certainly very rewarding. Again though, a little short. (JR)

While Smith Woodhouse's 2000 possesses a healthy dark ruby/purple, its muted aromatics are disappointing. Medium-bodied, with jammy fruit and moderate sweetness, this is a pleasant but one-dimensional, straightforward vintage port to drink over the next 12-15 years. Oct 2002, www.robertparker.com