LBV Old and New - part 2

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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
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LBV Old and New - part 2

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Another fascinating tasting took place at The Crusting Pipe on January 26th, which featured 9 different LBvs thanks to the generosity of Alex K who was the surprise appearance of the night.

We had an academically interesting vertical of Taylor 1965, 1967, 1969 and 1979. The conclusion I came to was Taylor LBV is to be drunk young and not kept for decades. None were undrinkable, but you wouldn't want a second glass of any of them.

We also had Niepoort 1975 - described as a port made from grapes that were not good enough to go into the worst vintage of the 20th century - Warre 1995, Warre 1999, Krohn 1997 and Andresen 2005.

Wine of the night for me was the extremely impressive Warre 1999. Wine of the night for everyone else was the almost as impressive Warre 1995.

The moral of the evening for me was - if you want to buy LBV to age for a decade or two, then buy Warre Traditional!
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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benread
Niepoort 1977
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Re: LBV Old and New - part 2

Post by benread »

AHB wrote:The moral of the evening for me was - if you want to buy LBV to age for a decade or two, then buy Warre Traditional!
Just reaffirmed what we concluded a few weeks ago then!
Ben
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Vintage 1970 and now proud owner of my first ever 'half-century'!
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JacobH
Quinta do Vesuvio 1994
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Re: LBV Old and New - part 2

Post by JacobH »

This was fun evening, especially thanks to KillerB unexpectedly boosting the "drinkable" end of the tasting! Thanks to all, especially Alex for arranging it and jdaw1 for all the last-minute placemat adjustments.

My conclusion for the first four was that 45 years of bottle age does not do great things to the quality of a Taylor's LBV! That said, all had a very long and quite elegant aftertaste which I would have otherwise not expected.

I thought the Niepoort was absolutely fine, considering its year and provenience, though I imagine the more recent offerings will last a bit better.

The Warre's were both fabulous and I also really enjoyed the Andresen which seems to be big solid Port. I think, if anyone is organising an LBV tasting in the future, the interesting period to concentrate on is when the bottles are about 15-30 years old, which I think is probably the maturity window for this sort of wine.
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
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Re: LBV Old and New - part 2

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

I've just opened a Baldias 1987 LBV. I would wholeheartedly endorse Jacob's suggestion that LBVs seem to hit their peak before they reach their 30th birthday. I would have suggested 20-30 years, but that's just a matter of personal preference.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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JacobH
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Re: LBV Old and New - part 2

Post by JacobH »

AHB wrote:I've just opened a Baldias 1987 LBV. I would wholeheartedly endorse Jacob's suggestion that LBVs seem to hit their peak before they reach their 30th birthday. I would have suggested 20-30 years, but that's just a matter of personal preference.
It probably depends a lot on the Port itself. I imagine that some of the lighter LBVs, particularly in halves (like you favourite offering from Churchill ;-)) might reach maturity a bit sooner. Indeed, because LBV Port is made in so many different styles, from drink-now bottles like Graham's, through will-improve ones like Croft, to treat-like-an-VP offerings such as Niepoort and Quevedo, the fluctuation in maturing windows is likely to be longer than for Vintage Port.
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KillerB
Taylor Quinta de Vargellas 1987
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Re: LBV Old and New - part 2

Post by KillerB »

Port is basically a red drink
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