Does an LBV represent the overall style of a producer

[Raj Patil]

With the more recent posts concerning LBV, I was curious if the different LBVs represent the overall style of that particular producer.

In other words, Do you feel that the LBV can educate a novice vintage port drinker to know what to expect as an overall style in their vintage ports?

[Derek T.]

Do you feel that the LBV can educate a novice vintage port drinker to know what to expect as an overall style in their vintage ports?

Raj,

In a word, no. To my taste a number of the best known shippers have relatively weak LBV offerings when compared with the standard of VP they consistently produce - Taylor and Graham's being two obvious examples.

I think the only way to learn what to expect from VP is to drink VP. This would hold true for all other styles of port.

Derek

[Alex K.]

If we are talking Style over Substance then the answer is probably yes. Taylor LBV is austere and dry compared to the heavy, sweet Graham's. The VPs are of much higher quality but you can see the styling. Fonseca LBV is dreadful and I cannot find it in my heart to liken it to the VP but I'm sure I could see the similarity if I tried.

Derek's point about quality raises a very different issue. The standard of the LBVs of the big houses is disrepectful to the lower end of the market. High volume does not have to mean low quality. Warre shows what to do with LBV - it may be a higher price but it is worth it. Again the styling is the same.

In summary - Style and Substance are not the same. You may dislike the LBV of a house but love the VP in the same style. Seeing a soap actress in a Gucci dress is very different from seeing a Super-model in one.

[Luc Gauthier]

My experience is that a LBV isn't representative .
A VP , realy gives you a better understanding , taste and appreciation .

[Ronald Wortel]

I never thought, I'd admit it, but that's a very sound reply from KillerB.

[Andy Velebil]

I would agree that LBV's are not necessarily a good representation of a producers VP's.

I love Noval's VP's, but I'm not real keen on their LBV's. Same goes for Taylor's (their 2000 LBV being the exception, and I haven't tried the '01 yet).

However, I think Warre's and Smith Woodhouse do make excellent LBV's that are baby brothers to their VP's.

Seems like the major houses (i.e. Fonseca, Noval, Taylors, etc.) have to make so much LBV every year that quality is often lost to quantity. Where smaller houses can focus more on quality. And believe it or not, Warre's is considered a smaller house by the Symington's.

[Raj Patil]

I was referring to style and definately not substance. In other words, some houses are sweeter, some dryer, some simple others complex, some commonly jammy fruit others subtle, etc.

I understand that one cannot compare a LBV with a vintage port directly.

But to try to find my preferences between the different producers I wondered if I could evaluate them by perviewing their LBVs.

Others opinions would be greatly appreciated.

[Moses Botbol]

The Ferreira has been closest to me between VP and LBV. Warre's is not far off, but lacks the depth of their VP. Maybe it is because LBV's are lot younger in the bottle than most of the VP's we drink? The additional barrel aging may effect the port in a way that make the comp not a fair one.

[Tom Archer]

To the basic question, I would simply answer:

No.

Tom

[*sweetstuff]

To be taken into consideration is the difference, at least in the past, between traditionally Portuguese-owned houses and British-owned houses.

A style expression should ideally probably be a high-quality NV blend (just like in Champagne). The house style should be well-expressed by a blend by a good blender of the materials on hand in the way the house likes them to go together. Those who put these wines together in various regions seem to me to have the best-developed palate in the industry, as shown by their ability to express an ideal style that varies little from release to release.

The house style of the Portuguese house is set more by wood ports, and so, theoretically, a good Colhieta or perhaps even a LBV, which to me seems from these houses to be a kind of variant of the Colhieta, would be more typical than VP. What would you call a wine made from blends of Colhieta ports of various vintages? It seems that stated-age tawny blends are closer to the hearts of English houses, but that's what we may be talking about.

The English houses are more exactly expressed stylistically by their VP.

If we push this to the limit, the best style marker for the English house would be its NV Crusted, or perhaps (ugh to the name) the so-called 'vintage character' ports. But spare us!