LBV question

[Evangelos M.]

I am in the market to buy a few of these and have a few questions and statements.

First of all, I love VP, but am very iffy on tawny ports. I have had up to the 20 year of the major producers and have not been impressed. With that said since I want to drink my VPs at peak maturity I need some other ports to get me by until they peak. That brings me to LBV. I can get plenty of year 2000 LBVs. Everything I have read on here says they are ready to drink now, but is there a standard time frame to open them like VPs have? (10-30+ years)

As always, thanks for the help.

[Andy Velebil]

Vange,

A good number of LBV's are bottled filtered and are ready to drink when released onto the market. For the filtered ones, they are generally not produced with aging in mind and intended to be drunk whenever you feel like it. Personnally, I would not store a filtered LBV for any significant time (say more than a year or two)...although I do have a couple that I am keeping for an experiment, as there is no reason to store these.

For the unfiltered LBV's (also called "Traditional"), yes they are more capable of aging. Warre's and Smith Woodhouse are two producers that come to mind that make a Traditional LBV, however, they typically don't release these onto the market a good number of years later. IIRC, the Warre's 1995 is the current release vintage. So these traditional LBV's are very much capable of aging for say 10-15 years. But remember, they typically are not designed for long term storage like a VP or Single Quinta VP.

In my experience some of Traditional LBV's tend to have a bit more structure and fruit then the filtered ones. However, the downside is they tend to cost a bit more than filtered ones.

Here are some good LBV's (* denotes a Traditional/unfiltered LBV)
Taylors 2000
Niepoort 2001*
Krohn's 2001*
Warre's 1995*
Smith Woodhouse 1992*
Quinta do Noval 1997, 1998, 1999*

[Evangelos M.]

Andy,

Thank you for the prompt response. Here are the ones I am considering. I assume all are filtered.

http://winelibrary.com/search.asp?sDept ... age%20Port

http://www.shoppersvineyard.com/portugu ... -c765.html

[Evangelos M.]

Looks like the Smith Woodhouse is unfiltered.

Any info on the Osbourne?

[Tom Archer]

The filtered LBV's, which can normally be identified by having stoppers (T corks) instead of driven corks, are generally expected to be drunk on release.

Although they will generally soften and improve a little over time, they can be looking distinctly tired after 25 years.

The unfiltered LBV's have not really been around long enough to say for certain how they will mature over the longer term, but they generally seem to be in good form for consumption after about ten years, and it's probably prudent to plan to consume them before their twentieth year - although some will probably continue to improve after that time, the risks of them beginning to go south will increase.

Their is little point in laying down unfiltered LBV's - if you trawl the wine merchants and auctions, you can find older bottles for the same price (or less!) than the young ones.

So buy as you need, and save your cellar space for VP!

Tom

[Tom Archer]

Wow - rapid fire responses here..!

The term 'Traditional' can be seen on older unfiltered bottles, but as there was nothing traditional about them, the term was outlawed in 2002.

On newer releases, you may see the term 'Bottle matured' - which means the wine was bottled over three years prior to release.

Tom

[Evangelos M.]

Thanks guys! I am going to buy a bunch. I'll let you know how it turns out!

[Moses Botbol]

Noval
Ferriera
Warre

Are all unfiltered.

The verdict is still out on how will the unfiltered taste with 20+ years on them as this style is still new to the market in port terms.

[Al B.]

Although the unfiltered LBV style is new to the market, it is only new in having a clearly defined meaning as agreed and monitored by the IVDP.

In fact, unfiltered LBVs have been around a lot longer that you might imagine. It was a major component of the wines included in the crusted port blends and those can occasionally be found for sale that were bottled in the '50s and 60s. I had one recently from 1968 and it was delicious. I would suggest that these older crusted ports are a very good indicator as to what we should be able to expect from an unfiltered LBV.

Based on the crusted port drinking experience, my recommendation would be to drink unfiltered LBV port between its 10th and 30th birthdays.... but if you find one older than that, then try it and let us all know what you find.

Alex

[Moses Botbol]

Although the unfiltered LBV style is new to the market, it is only new in having a clearly defined meaning as agreed and monitored by the IVDP.

Based on the crusted port drinking experience, my recommendation would be to drink unfiltered LBV port between its 10th and 30th birthdays.... but if you find one older than that, then try it and let us all know what you find.

Alex

Yes, I forgot about crusted port. There's not much of that in the US, and the ones I remember did not have a vintage associated with them. I think the Warre's and Noval will age well; as if a high quality juice went into them. The Ferreira's already has a mature taste and tend to fall off quicker once open. For just opened (assuming the same year), the Ferreira is the most unique tasting and lightest tasting of the three.

[Evangelos M.]

Ok, so I need to try LBV filtered, LBV unfiltered, and crusted. Is Churchills crusted port a good brand? (its the only one I can find near me)

[Al B.]

Churchill have a decent reputation as a brand, relatively new in the market but doing well. However, I have no experience with their Crusted port so look forward to your experience. Please post a tasting note and let us all know!

Alexh

[Evangelos M.]

I will and maybe even tonight! I'll photograph the bottle as well.

[Andy Velebil]

I am not sure how many producers even still make a crusted Port. The LBV has become the modern equivalent of sorts. Plus, with the price of LBV's around the same or cheaper, it just doesn't make sense for a producer to continue to make the "Poor mans Port" as it was refer to.

[Derek T.]

Andy,

I agree. I have had a few Crusted Ports from recent years and they are nothing special, and certainly nothing more than a good quality LBV can give.

I have had some crusted port which is very old, I think you and I shared a 1962 once 8) , but these are very rare and the current batch of Crusted's seem to be bottled to be sold and drunk without further cellar time. So you might as well have an LBV :?

Derek

[Evangelos M.]

Ok, here is what I purchased today.

Warre's LBV 1995 (bottled in 1999) - $25
Noval LBV 1999 (bottled in 2005) - $18
Dow's LBV 2000 (bottled in 2005) - $18
Churchhills Crusted 2000 (just says bottled in 2000) - $20
2 x Osborne 1997 vintage port - $20 each (i think this was a great deal if the VP is any good)
Hartly & Gibson Oloroso cherry - $9

The Churchills has been decanting for 3 hours. I am about to have it now.

I took a picture too, how do I post it?[/url]

[Evangelos M.]

The crusted port is much better than I expected. Pretty soft and great cherry and rasberry nose and flavors. Some oakiness, but not overpowering. For the price this is a winner. I can drink this while I wait for my VPs to mature.

[Andy Velebil]

Vange,

Glad you liked it. FYI, the date on crusted is the year of bottling. THus a 2000 crusted, was bottled in the year 2000. Typically, it is normally made up of several different vintages.

[Al B.]

Vange,

Glad you like the Crusted Port. There are still a few shippers making this style of port but my guess is that as a style it will slowy vanish as the unfiltered LBVs gain in reputation and popularity.

I also think that you have picked up some good bargains with the prices you paid for the LBVs. I would normally expect to pay £10-15 for a bottle of good, unfiltered LBV in the UK and your prices are better than that. Next time I come over to the US I'll have to raid the stores!

Alex

[Evangelos M.]

I finished off the Churchhill's crusted last night after over 24 hrs of decanting. Definitely softer after the extended decanting period. Is it good to decant the crusted and unfiltered LBVs? I figured it couldn't hurt.

Am I in the minority of people that do not like tawny ports? (especially now that I discovered crusted and LBVs)