2015 Berry Brothers LBV

[Alex Bridgeman]

From Quinta de la Rosa for the Berry Brothers own label LBV, bottled in 2019 and sealed with a driven cork. Deep red and opaque, no youthful purple but still an intense deep red. Lots of lavender on the nose; thick, sweet, complex and floral but with surprisingly little fruit character. Lovely and dense on the palate where the fruit shows strongly, lovely and ripe but combining very well with the acidity in the wine to give a very good balance. A nice perfume to the fruit on the late palate and a stunning length where the ripe tannins show up as a distinct dark chocolate tone to the blackcurrant fruit. This is lovely to drink today but will benefit from being left to mature in the cellar for the next 5-10 years. Excellent LBV. 88/100. Drunk 26-Jun-2020. Decanted ½ hour.

This is an excellent wine for anyone looking for good value for money or for a cellar defender which will repay some patience before opening. £18.50 per bottle if purchased at full price, although Berry Brothers Cellar Plan members get 10% off this price and the bottles are occasionally remaindered in the Basingstoke shop.

[flash_uk]

Alex, when scoring LBVs do you score relative to other LBVs, or do you score all ports together?