March 2009 VT : Unfiltered LBV

[Frederick Blais]

Alright guys, for this month, lets talk about Unfiltered LBV Port.

[Frederick Blais]

Over the week-end, I did open Offley LBV 2004

I was not much impress, it did offer some red berries fruits flavour, licorice, but overall thin, alcoholic and acidic. It has been a long time I had not tasted the LBV from this Port company that I used to rate higher thatn this. Oh, they did put some effort in a new label... again! 13.5/20

[Andy Velebil]

1979 Warre's Traditional LBV Port

Bottled in 1984, decanted 6 hours, served blind to some friends.

I served this blind to a couple people at dinner tonight to get their unbiased opinion. I do hope they chime in here, but sufice it to say they really like it. I was first struck at how dark in color this was for an old LBV. Then was surprised at how much young fruit there was on the nose. Alex R. was correct to say this smelled like a Graham's Vintage Port, as I agreed. There was lots of christmas cake notes and young black plums on the nose. The palate was full bodied with lots of dark berries, spices, moderate tannins, and lots of acidity. I must say this was so youthful that guesses were mid-1980's to early 1990's Port. This in no way shows it's 30 years of age. Although the finish itself was a tad short, the fruit stayed quite prominant on the palate for quite a long time and was remarkable for an old LBV. This is the oldest LBV I've ever had, yet the youngest LBV in color and palate presence which is utterly remarkable. If there was more tannins I would say this would easily last another 20 years. But with only moderate tannins left I'd say this has about another 5-8 years of up-side potential. The fruit shows no signs of any secondary characteristics yet, which is absolutely amazing for such on old LBV. But without bigger tannins I'm not sure this will retain it's current balance so well. I was utterly shocked at how well this showed overall and would drink this again without question. 91 points.
03/08/09

[Al B.]

Warre 1995 Unfiltered LBV
Traditional LBV. Solid red centre and a deep red rim. A lovely, sweet and fruit laden nose that is very inviting, but does have a nice touch of pepper in it. In the mouth this is quite dry, but is just so full of ripe fruit. There is a lovely streak of ripe tannin in the palate, but the fruit never even considers taking second place. While there is not a lot of complexity, this is very pleasant and straightforward. The aftertaste is full of dark chocolate and strawberry conserve - and is extremely long! Overall, this is very drinkable and extremely enjoyable, although lacks some of the complexity that you would expect from a vintage port. Perhaps a little more bottle age will allow this complexity to develop. 89/100.

[Andy Velebil]

Alex,
I agree, I am really curious to see how the 1995 Warre's LBV does with another 5-10+ years of bottle age. I've stashed the rest of mine in the back of the cellar so I can see how they develop.

[Luc Gauthier]

Over the weekend : Ramos Pinto 2003 LBV unfiltered
Bottled in 2007.
Ruby in colour , fading to light red towards the edges .
Mouthfeel present , but fades quickly .
No intense fruit noticeable .
For $28.00 , I would say a good price/quality ratio . 15.5/20

[Carlos Rodriguez]

Calem LBV 1997 traditional

I continue this post tonight,..

Dark and opaque color. Slightly alcoholic aroma with some touch of wood. Soft flavor of mature dried plums. Very agreeable, good set of flavor.
It's in a good moment to drink it, before it loose this fruity flavor it still has.

[Roy Hersh]

Niepoort 2003 LBV - Dark ruby and nearly opaque. Floral notes along with plum and brambly fruit fragrances. The first day it was light to medium-body but has subsequently put on some heft. Very smooth and chewy at the same time. Dark wild berries and cloves provide a plush and straight forward LBV which is really enjoyable at this young stage. The tannins are racy and the finish provides good length. I liked this better on day two and three. I should mention this was not decanted and it is a 375 ml bottle. 92+ points

[Glenn E.]

I saw this on the shelf at a local wine store while I was attending a Washington Wine & Cheese tasting, and since it was very reasonably priced I picked up a bottle to try. It was bottled in 2008, and makes no mention of whether or not it is filtered. After doing a quick note, my guess is that it is not filtered and so fits the March theme nicely. I took this note with a glass poured immediately after opening, so it hasn't had any decant time at all.

2004 Niepoort LBV

It is a very deep red with some purple tendencies in the glass. It fades through red and pink before becoming clear right at the rim.

There's something mildly funky about the nose, but I can't place it. Oddly (at least to me), the fruits start out more purple than red, and there's a bit of a compote going on. There's a noticeable amount of alcohol, too. With a little bit of time in the glass, the fruits migrate toward the expected (due to the color) red end of the spectrum. Almost like strawberry jam, but not that sweet.

What hits first in the mouth is grapes, then the feel of some very fine tannins accompanied by a moderately savory flavor that could almost be beef boullion, and then a distinct sensation of milk chocolate as it pours around the tongue. It's not a creamy, silky smooth milk chocolate like I often detect in the 2003 Taylor Fladgate LBV, but more of a Hershey's milk chocolate which (at least to me) isn't as smooth as a really high quality chocolate.

The tannins are present and firm, but not gripping. They linger through the finish to the very end. The finish is of moderate length and consists mostly of purple fruits, grape skin, and just a tiny bit of licorice.

All in all, a decent LBV. My guess would be that it is not filtered, but that's only because I know that the 2003 Taylor Fladgate is filtered and this feels rougher in the mouth. Were I ranking them, I'd have to put the Niepoort below the Taylor Fladgate for drinking right now, but I suspect that the Niepoort will age better and might actually need 5-10 years before it's truly in its prime.

[Derek T.]

A note from early March 09 that I thought I had already posted here:

Warre (Bottle Matured) LBV 1999

D+24
Lovely fresh red fruits on the nose. Nice weight, tannic at first but very fruity and delicious. A little heat on the mid-palate fades into a nice long sweet finish.

Thanks to an over zealous discount pricing executive at Asda a couple of years ago I am lucky enough to have more of these than any man deserves to own :twisted:

[Andy Velebil]

A note from early March 09 that I thought I had already posted here:

D+24
Lovely fresh red fruits on the nose. Nice weight, tannic at first but very fruity and delicious. A little heat on the mid-palate fades into a nice long sweet finish.

Thanks to an over zealous discount pricing executive at Asda a couple of years ago I am lucky enough to have more of these than any man deserves to own :twisted:

Derek,
What wine is this TN from???

[Derek T.]

Now inserted in my post