Graham's LBV: Filtered or Unfiltered?

[Lindsay E.]

Tonight, I got down to the end of a 2011 Graham's LBV and noticed very large chunks of sediment in my final two glasses. I was under the impression that Graham's LBV was filtered because the label does not mention "unfiltered" anywhere. Granted, this 2011 LBV that I opened this week aged in my cellar for the past 5 years, but the amount of sediment in my glass seemed very high for a filtered wine with only 5 years of bottle age. Does anyone know if Graham's LBV is truly "unfiltered"?

[Glenn E.]

Graham's LBVs are filtered, but there are different levels of "filtering" that can be applied. My understanding is that Graham's LBVs use a "lighter" touch with their filtering, but it's still enough that they can't call the final product unfiltered. Note that even unfiltered Ports are filtered to some extent... it all depends on how you define "filtering". Does straining out the pips and stems count as filtering? Of course not, but it's a pretty linear line from there to when they finally say "stop, that's enough, beyond this point you have to call it filtered."

The year can also play a role, and 2011 was a "big" year. I haven't had too many 2011s recently, but it wouldn't surprise me if both VP and LBV from that year throw pretty decent crusts.

[Andy Velebil]

Graham's LBV are filtered, as are all Ports to some degree*. Graham's is lightly filtered so it will throw sediment with time in the bottle. It's perfectly normal for yours to do so after that long in bottle.

*As we've discussed before on this Forum and TPF, all wines from all regions of the world have some form of filtration before bottling. As they have to be or you'll be picking the pips, stems, leaves and everything else out of it if it's not. That may be a "light" filtration or it may be a "heavy" filtration, or somewhere between, depending on the producer, wine, etc. And that doesn't include the discussion about cold stabilization, membranes, and other methods that exist in the beverage world. That all said, as it relates to Port, even a "heavy" filtration in Port will still eventually lead to some sediment forming. As many of us have encountered when opening a basic Ruby or tawny that's been in bottle for a long time. I hope that helps answer your question.