For The Love Of Port

Smith Woodhouse LBV 1984 [bottled 1988]
Edited to correct bottling year.
I haven't had any exposure or experience with an LBV this old. I'm on an road trip to the US, so found a lot of stuff we don't have readily available to us in Edmonton!

Stood the bottle for almost 2 days, simply because I was finishing a Ferreira 10 yr tawny, but also because I have not had a tremendous amount of time to get around to opening this bottle.

Attempted an Ah-so opening, but was unable to get the prongs deep enough to embrace the entire cork. After extracting less than 1 cm of it, just managed to prevent the cork from falling back down into the wine. Finished the job with a Swiss Army Knife corkscrew. Fortunately I figured I might need it, and found it a relief when it extracted the remainder of the cork in one piece. Extensive staining into the cork.

Standard driven cork of 1¾ inch length was stained extensively, almost down an entire inch on one half of the cork which may have been defective as it seemed "cracked" down the center. One half of the cork was stained really heavily, about an inch up into the cork, the other half had none. Interesting.

No decanter as I am in a hotel. The bar downstairs will not lend me a decanter for 10 minutes. They are invested though... they have several VPs and a great selection of Aged Tawny available. (As an aside, I understand these places have to make money, but $20 for a 2 oz pour of Warre's 85 VP that has likely been sitting open and upright for over three weeks that they KNOW ABOUT?!?! Come on... that is getting a bit ridiculous!)

I was disappointed with a lack of fruit and tannin structure in the nose. The colour is a light garnet fading to an alarming orange and brown on the edges. Almost a tawny colour.

The first sip overwhelmed me with sweetness. Very strong notes of over-ripe plums, some raisins, a bit of brown sugar, perhaps even a bit of maple syrup. No fruit that is prevalent.

I am suspecting the cork may have failed prematurely and allowed a bit of premature oxidization... this seems like a ten year tawny, albeit a GOOD 10 yr tawny. Very good.

I am wondering if anyone else has tried this port lately and whether they have a similar experience... does it seem like a Tawny to you?

Todd

Thanks for the note Todd. You probably mean that it's bottled in 1988 instead of '98 right?

I haven't tried this particular LBV, but I did try a number of LBV's from the '80's, the best being from Niepoort and Romaneira. LBV's develop faster than a vintage, but a good aged LBV can provide tons of pleasure. It will not have a very pronounced structure, but can obtain velvety flavours, lingering somewhere between a vintage and a colheita.

Ronald Wortel wrote:Thanks for the note Todd. You probably mean that it's bottled in 1988 instead of '98 right?

Right you are Ronald... good catch. I've edited the title to reflect this mis-type.

Ronald Wortel wrote: I haven't tried this particular LBV, but I did try a number of LBV's from the '80's, the best being from Niepoort and Romaneira. LBV's develop faster than a vintage, but a good aged LBV can provide tons of pleasure. It will not have a very pronounced structure, but can obtain velvety flavours, lingering somewhere between a vintage and a colheita.

This one seems to be all the way over onto the Colheita side... but you are absolutely correct with the velvety description.

I ended up finishing this bottle tonight and when i got down to the last pour and a half, had to do a bit of emergency (unbleached) coffee-filter decanting from one hotel wine glass to the other - I came prepared. I think I know why there was no fruit remaining on the palate at all - half the vineyard appeared to be in the bottom of the bottle! I have not yet seen a port (of ANY variety) that has thrown this much sediment to the bottom of a bottle. Amazing. Big chunks. I think half a vine was in this bottle!

Todd

Todd,

Just wait until you have a really really old VP...then you will see some sediment

Looking forward to that Taylors '77 in a decade or so!

Todd

If you can find a Niepoort LBV from the 80's or beginning 90's, try it. They have the capability to age very gracefully. Romaneira was still high in quality in the 80's, I've tasted some very good examples from them as well (since the beginneing of the 90's they've gone downhill). I expect that Warre's unfiltered LBV should also be capable of ageing, but the oldest I've tried is the '92, and that was a couple of years ago. Still have one bottle that I plan to keep for a while longer!

The oldest LBV I've tried was a 1967 Guedes (which is now part of Real Comp. Velha, but was still independent then). It had completely transformed into tawny. More colheita than vintage, but a very good one!

Ronald Wortel wrote:The oldest LBV I've tried was a 1967 Guedes (which is now part of Real Comp. Velha, but was still independent then). It had completely transformed into tawny. More colheita than vintage, but a very good one!

Ronald, that is precisely what I found with this SW as well. More Tawny than Vintage. A bit disappointing as I was looking for some bold, brash fruit rather than the mellow Tawny, but fine nonetheless.

They only had a Niepoort 1999 LBV. I was considering getting that one, but settled with the Krohn's 91 VP instead. (Ran out of budget room.) Maybe a good choice, maybe not. I'm enjoying the Krohn's right at the moment, so it can't be THAT bad!

Todd

Todd

I'm a big fan of the Niepoort '99 LBV, and highly recommend it next time you get the chance. Somehow I missed the 84 Smith Woodhouse LBV last time I was at Beltramo's....did you pick this up at Beltramo's? If so, I'm going to get some this week and check it out.

Jay

Hi Jay, Yes, it was definitely at Beltramos - IIRC it was a bit further to the left of the port collection, closer to the Madeira. I want to say it was a shelf closer to the bottom, but that could be a bit off. (You were bang on regarding the lower, vertical bin of the Krohn 1991 VP in the halfs!)

If you do purchase this, let me know in what condition you find the cork to be. This one showed almost completely tawny, but the cork did seem to be cracked the entire length. Not sure if this could have resulted in oxidation and premature aging, but it would be interesting to compare. (I believe the 94 LBV is also available, both at Beltramos and here in Edmonton. If I can find one, I will try this bottling to see if there is a discernible difference in the amount of bottle aging (10 years) between the two.

Sorry we missed each other while I was out there. Sounds like although you are moving between jobs, you at least have a new one to go to and that is probably a good thing. Let me know how that goes and hope all works out well for you, my friend!

Todd