Country: | Portugal |
Region: | Douro |
Grape Type: | Port Blend |
Vintage: | 1991 |
Bottle Size: | 375 ml |
Smith Woodhouse Vintage Port 1991 has been pulled from a Gentleman's cellar, all wines from this cellar have been purchased by the owner either from the importer or direct from winery. They stayed in his cellar until being moved to the Timeless Wines warehouse.
W & J Graham's Vintage Port 2016 is made from 37% Touriga Nacional, 42% Touriga Franca and various others.
Like most parts of the world, the Douro has not been isolated from the effects of climate change, and unusual weather conditions over recent years have often departed from those typically associated with classic vintage years. Fortunately, in 2016 the stars aligned and the year brought superbly structured and balanced wines, allowing Graham's to announce a full vintage declaration.
The 2016 is a classic expression of the Graham's style: concentrated and opulent with layers of fresh, ripe, black fruit flavors. Aromas of mint and eucalyptus with chocolate notes. The Graham 2016 combines superb complexity, structure and balance.
Reviews:
Extremely complex aromas that show the classic Graham character of black-fruit marmalade and burnt oranges. Follows through to a full body with great grip at the finish. Lightly sweet. Chewy and powerful. Such a focus at the end.
-James Suckling 99 Points
This is lush and captivating in feel, with a velvety flow to the mix of plum, blackberry, boysenberry and açai berry compote flavors. A bold streak of licorice runs through the finish, underscored by a brambly note that imparts balance. A stunning display of fruit. Best from 2030 through 2050.
-Wine Spectator 98 Points
Super-ripe with an expressive plum and dark chocolate aroma. Rich opulence backed by dark chocolate intensity and spicy tannic grip – big and bold on the finish. Voluptuous with fabulous richness, big and bold on the finish. This is one for the long haul but it’s already very impressive.
-Decanter 98 Points
"Opaque ruby. A complex, beautifully structured wine from Europe’s hot summer of 2003. Lively spicy, toasted aromas and a ripe and generous palate with layers of rich, dense flavors of dark fruit, chocolate, tobacco, spice box and a hint of marmalade. Finishes dry and long with still firm tannins. A delicious Port that should be paired with Roquefort and other blue cheeses."
- International Wine Review (Succulent Sweet Wines for the Holidays: The Best of 2018), 92 pts
Flowering in the Duoro occurred in the last 10 days of May. The weather conditions provided for a perfect flowering season. The Romariz Vintage Port 2003 yielded wines of great color and supple tannins, with a vintage stamp being evident in most wines. Production: 8,000 cases. "Another bright and fruity young Vintage Port with plum, grape and blackberry aromas with just a hint of stems. Serious nose here. Full-bodied, with soft, round tannins and a long, caressing finish. A beauty."
- J.S., Wine Spectator, 89-91 pts
"Bright dark ruby. Deep, perfumed aromas of cassis, licorice, violet and minerals. Lush and high-toned in the mouth but with very good vinosity and spine. Lovely fruit-driven flavors of black cherry, blackberry and dark chocolate. Little sign of the roasted side of 2003. Not hugely concentrated but suave, supple, minerally and sweet. Finishes with ripe tannins and very good spicy persistence. A very good showing. Accessible already but balanced for medium-term aging."
- Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, 89 pts
My First comment tasting this wine is "wow!" It's delicious; our flagship wine at Paradigm and it delivers. Dense, deep, ripe aromas of black berry and black cherry-like fruit layered with caramel and toastiness from a nice mix of French Oak barrels. Flavors coat the palate with matching notes in a classic Cabernet Sauvignon presentation. One of our best Cabs to date!
Paradigm Cabernet Sauvignon is made from 96% Cabernet Sauvignon, 3% Merlot , 1% Petit Verdot
Review:
"Owned and managed by the Harris family, Paradigm winery produced its first vintage in 1991 in Oakville with winemaker Heidi Barrett. A self-contained winery estate with 50 acres of vineyards, Paradigm maintains a hands-on approach to all winemaking and vineyard operations. The 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon consists of 89% Cabernet Sauvignon, 6% Merlot, 3% Petit Verdot and 2% Cabernet Franc, and is aged in both new and used French oak for 20 months, then aged a further 20 months in bottle before release. The total production for this vintage was 5,544 bottles." Blind tasted by Dave Allen, Stephen Brook, Terry Kandylis (at Decanter Magazine's December 2019 Californian Cabernet 2015 Panel Tasting, London, 17 Sep 2019)
- Decanter 95 Points
Lismore Barrel Fermented Sauvignon Blanc is made from 100 percent Sauvignon Blanc.
As with all Lismore wines, balance is the key. The bracing acidity that is customary in new world Sauvignons has been brought into balance with a carefully chosen pick date and the barrel and egg fermentation and maturation. A full bodied, balanced wine was the goal.
Barrel fermentation and extended lees contact contribute to this full bodied, elegant and well balanced wine. Floral notes of passion flower and fynbos, granadilla, guava, gooseberry and pear on the palate along with an underlying minerality which gives this unique terroir driven wine its signature.
Wine Made in the Soil
The grapes come from 50% Lismore’s Greyton vineyards which are planted on East/Southeast facing slopes at 320 meters in the foothills of the Sonderend Mountain Range. The soils are deep decomposed shale. The other 50% comes from a vineyard in Stanford which overlooks Walker Bay on sandstone soils.