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Fun time and a great host to Jay and his significant half opening up their abode for our tastings.

Food was great but I think we've learned.

LBVs are indeed meant to be drunk young and not meant for long term cellaring. The Niepoort 92 was an exception for me. The Fonseca 01 LBV was absolute crap, and for my favorite VP house, this was truly a disappoint.
The Bin 27 is better then the crappy 01 LBV.

I snuck in a 79 D'Issan Grand cru bordeaux for a birthday wine thinking it might have been a change of pace, but I was smacked around and put into place by the wine gods. It was so corked, the wine looked like someone took some cardboard and stuck it in a blender.

But fun times again. Food was exceptional and the company likewise.

Thank you Jay and Julian for hosting and setting up the event again.

Title amended by jdaw1 to remove trailing question mark

LBV tasting, in Brooklyn chez Jay, Thursday 8th May 2008, being a replacement for the postponed O&O tasting. Links:

• Arrangements;
• Placemats;
• Review of the evening as a whole;
• 1982 Warre LBV;
• 1990 Churchill LBV;
• 1992 Niepoort LBV;
• 1994 Rozès LBV;
• 2001 Dow LBV;
• 2001 Fonseca LBV;
• 2001 Javali LBV;
• 2001 Taylor LBV.

Jay splendidly hosted us again, and I thank him and his wife Barbara who exiled herself into a distant room.

Very interesting idea to have an LBV tasting — I hadn’t ever had LBVs side-by-side. But I have come away unimpressed. The nice ones are unavailable (where does on buy 1992 Niepoort LBV or 1982 Warre LBV?); and of the young ones only the Javali had potential to grow up well. I would rather drink low-end VP half as often.

I’m interested that, from your TNs, it appears that many of you found the 2001 Dow’s a lot better than the 2001 Taylor’s. I’ve drunk a fair few bottles of both and would always put them the other way around. Indeed, he main reason I’ve drunk the Dow’s is that it is often available at c.£5 a bottle, a price at which it seems hard to go wrong!

We love their VPs, but the Taylor and Fonseca LBVs were terrible. Dow far superior.

I agree that the Taylor's and Fonseca LBV are usually bad. The Dow's is alright, but definitely should be drunk young.

about drinking aged LBV: I really like the flavours that a good unfiltered LBV gains from age. But that said, there are a number of considerations:

• - only a few producers are capable of making ageworthy LBV (e.g. Warre, Niepoort, Romaneira)
  - The flavour profile of an aged LBV is distinctly different from that of VP, softer, maybe nudging more towards tawny.
  - Because these ports are not generally seen as wines to age, storage conditions of older LBV's may not always have been optimal. A lot of bottle variation can occur due to that.

I do have a number of LBVs in my cellar that I bought young and intend to age for at least 10-15 years. Mostly Niepoort, Warre and Javali. I also tried it with Burmester, but found they were most enjoyable between 5 and 10 years after bottling.

My camera having disappeared, temporarily, in the move, pictures are from Jay.

Top-to-bottom, within which left-to-right:

• • 1982 Warre LBV;
  • 1990 Churchill LBV;
  • 1992 Niepoort LBV;
• • 1994 Rozès LBV;
  • 2001 Dow LBV;
• • 2001 Fonseca LBV;
  • 2001 Javali LBV;
  • 2001 Taylor LBV.

Hello Ronnie,

it was very nice seeing some one talking about Quinta da Romaneira, that for me it´s the best "small" producer (400 hec) making the colheitas from 1967 and 1970 - and the best Over Fourty Years Old. blend with a Port from 1935 - notes of chocolat, cinamon and died fruits, EXPLOSIVEEE , the best Port that I´ve tasted.

It´s sad, because now they don´t produce more of these wonderfull Ports, they transformed the state in a luxury place where visitors of the Douro Valley can stay, and they only make Vintage and table wine...