Jack’s wine of the month: Smith Woodhouse Late Bottled Vintage 1995

Forget dry, red, white. In December it should be sweet and strong. Christmas arrives with strong and blue cheeses that require some substantial counter-artillery to create a holiday harmony. The saviour comes in the shape of a bottle of port of course. A brilliant choice is Smith Woodhouse Late Bottled Vintage 1995 (some 15 euro). Not quite a vintage but not far from it. It squeezes as much character out of an LBV as one can reasonably hope for, full of fruit, cherries, mint, vanilla and a long, luscious finish. And so affordable that you can even bring it out when the whole wide family, cousins and all, arrives for the Christmas-time cheese and port rituals.