Drinking window - Unfiltered LBV's

Eric Duprey · Post by **Eric Duprey** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:18 pm

I'm not sure if this topic has been discussed elsewhere, but I was wondering what people considered the optimum age for drinking unfiltered LBV's. I've started stocking up on the premise that they are inexpensive and somewhat ageworthy.

Mostly I end up drinking them when they are around 6-8 years old and enjoy their freshness, but I've had a few around 12-14 years that seemed to be in that awkward stage and a little rough going. I haven't really tried any older than that because they don't really come on the market that often.

So I'm just a little curious about the LBV aging/drinking habits of my fellow forum members.

Post by **Andy Velebil** » Thu Nov 01, 2007 9:37 pm

Eric,

Check out my thread on the Alex comes to L.A. offline. That 1984 Smith Woodhouse LBV rocks.

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Fri Nov 02, 2007 10:13 am

Eric,

I'll drink them as old as I can. I've had and really enjoyed mature LBV examples from 1961, 1962 and 1984 as well as younger versions.

I just love the delicate subtleties that you get in really old (50+ years) vintage port and unfiltered LBVs seem to develop these a little more quickly than a Vintage Port.

I've got some Warre '95 LBVs in storage and plan to leave them there for another 8-10 years and I'm always on the lookout for reasonably priced bottles from the '70s and '80s for current drinking.

Alex

Eric Duprey · Post by **Eric Duprey** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 6:59 am

Thanks, guys.

I like the fact that LBV's are inexpensive enough that you don't have to really think about grabbing a few when you hit the wine shop. My collection of VP's is probably small by FTLOP standards (about 80 bottles) but most of them are from 1992 and 1994 and I want to keep my hands off them for a while. That's why I've been using mostly tawnies for everyday drinking.

So it sounds like at least the old standbys of Warre and Smith Woodhouse hold up fairly well, based on your experiences. I enjoyed several bottles of the 1982 LBV from both producers, but that was back in 1995 when I was just starting out, so again, they were fairly young.

I'm trying to remember if we had any mature LBV's on our trip. The only one I recall is the 1982 Valriz, and while I don't think I was overly impressed by it, I think it was starting to take on a lot of those nice old vintage qualities.

Alex, I just had a bottle of 1995 Warre LBV, and that's what made me start thinking about this topic. I felt myself thinking 'this would be great if it was a bit younger or if it were 20 years older'.

Todd Pettinger · Post by **Todd Pettinger** » Sun Nov 04, 2007 11:50 pm

Eric Duprey wrote:My collection of VP's is probably small by FTLOP standards (about 80 bottles)

Eric, mine i currently 63 bottles, so don't feel bad!

Eric Duprey wrote:Alex, I just had a bottle of 1995 Warre LBV, and that's what made me start thinking about this topic. I felt myself thinking 'this would be great if it was a bit younger or if it were 20 years older'.

I had this recently and LOVED it so much I opened a second bottle. Great LBV, decent QPR, even up here in Canada where it is over $30/bottle. I'd drink this for the next ten years if I could.

Todd

Nikolaj Winther · Post by **Nikolaj Winther** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 3:25 am

Todd Pettinger wrote:Eric, mine i currently 63 bottles, so don't feel bad!

Ha, got you beat hands down - 23 bottles of VP in my cellar. (A tawny-man myself).

Rich Greenberg · Post by **Rich Greenberg** » Mon Nov 05, 2007 8:38 am

T/N, I have you both beat....only 11 bottles of VP out of 28 bottles of port.

I AM working on that, though....

Eric, great thread. I was wondering the same thing myself as most the ports that I want to afford right now are very young, so need something to drink in the meantime. LBV's are a great alternative, and they don't break the bank. I have started to pick up some colheitas and tawnies, too.

Rich