Warre's 1999 Late Bottled Vintage Port

[Michael Hann]

The wine was bottled in 2003 but was held back for aging in bottle. The label carries a "Bottle Matured" attribute. I purchased this port for $27.99 a few weeks ago.

Sunday December 13
Decanted four hours before drinking. Cork in good condition, not at all soaked through. Little sediment. I decanted without filtering and stopped pouring more by a sense of how little liquid remained in the bottle than by seeing any sediment flowing. The bottle was too dark to see into the neck. I did not see any noticeable suspended particles in the decanted wine (based on looking at the port in my glass when drinking), so I think I got a good pour. I saved somewhat less than 1/2 the bottle in a stopper cork bottle to drink on the following evening.

Rich red color with no bricking. The color suggests to me that the wine is young in some sense.

Bouquet very modest and mild

Flavor very fruity -- cherry, blackberry flavors -- sweet but not excessive. The sweetness was most pronounced on the first taste and then was substantially less pronounced on later tastes.

A medium to short after taste. Some modest spiciness that lingered, but not for long.

I sampled this with stilton cheese, figs, and walnuts. Each of these had a different effect that they imparted on the taste -- bringing out different flavors. Tasting alone without any foods, the wine was not distinctly better, so I kept varying and alternating among these several foods.

On the second night -- tonight -- I poured the remaining port into my decanter 3 hours before drinking. I didn't notice any particular evolution from the tasting sensations I had last night. I liked this port well. My impression last night was that this port could improve for at least another 5 years, but my experience in port is very limited (I guess I'm extrapolating from my experience with red wines generally).

[Roy Hersh]

One of the most expressive and candid TNs I've read in quite awhile. Thanks for a great impression. I initially thought the bottle sounded over-priced at nearly $28 for a LBV, but it sounds like the pleasure factored in, made this worthwhile even at that price.

[Michael Hann]

I initially thought the bottle sounded over-priced at nearly $28 for a LBV, but it sounds like the pleasure factored in, made this worthwhile even at that price.

Frankly, Roy, I think your initial thought is probably right on the money. From what I have been able to gather, the retail prices of my Dallas, Texas, area fine wine store are above market for port and probably fine wines generally. I still resort to them for buying one or two bottles at a time to experiment and try different ports.

[Eric Menchen]

In general when I've seen older LBVs, they seem to me to be overpriced; not quite in, but more in the VP range.

[Andy Velebil]

Micheal,
Excellent tasting note This, and the 1995, are both very good LBV's and I have a number that I am aging to see how they do in the mid to long term. The price is about average for it, so not a bad deal when you figure it's about 1/2 the cost of a VP or a SQVP.

[Bob Parsons Alberta]

I am a big Warre`s fan. This LBV is $40 up here!

[Michael Hann]

I am a big Warre`s fan. This LBV is $40 up here!

Bob: Have you drunk the 1999 Warre LBV, and if so what is your opinion of it?

[Philippe S.]

We had it in Quebec for the last 2 years, but now it's gone ! Hopefully, we now have the 2000. It's the most expensive LBV here at $37 CAD.

I had it twice. It had a great complexity for that type of port. It was well balanced, but just a little bit too much heat. I really like the fact that they keep the bottles for aging in Gaia. That way, they control every conditions and we know it will be in great shape. I've never been a big fan of Warre, but this one is close enough to some vintages, that are out of price here, to consider it.

In that kind of port, we have Quinta do Infantado 01 and 04, and Smith Woodhouse 99 in Quebec. I prefer these three to the Warre's, but it's just me ! They all deserve a try. It's nice to see some producers putting efforts to give a good LBV. When we consider that it's really hard to find vintages, even SQVP, under 60$ here, this kind of LBV is a very nice alternative !

[Henrik Lilja]

The 1994 and 1995 was even better! The Warre LBV is among the top3 LBV-producers. I'm only refering to the traditional LBV - I mention this because Warre has introduced a discount LBV - not to be confused with the traditional bottle maturing LBV - shame on Warre for this. Thank god they still produce the traditional - with a regular cork - this LBV was made for storage. It's possible to buy some 1990 in Sweden these days...