ThePortForum.com

A tasting of aged LBV ports (pre-2000), at the Boot & Flogger, on Tuesday 5th March 2024.

• Review of evening as a whole;
• Tasting notes:
  • 1978 Quarles Harris LBV;
  • 1979 Warre LBV;
  • 1981 Warre LBV;
  • 1982 Warre LBV;
  • 1984 Smith Woodhouse LBV;
  • 1990 Quinta de la Rosa LBV;
  • 1994 Fonseca LBV;
  • 1995 Delaforce LBV;
  • 1995 Reccua LBV;
  • 1997 Quinta do Noval LBV;
  • 1970 Gould Campbell LBV.

Soft, broad, plummy & creamy. Classic Warre brooding blue/red fruit, but not muted as it sometimes can be. Juicy cherry buns. Charming length and fruit complexity. So good.

W79 LBV. Dark red, 60% opaque — an excellent colour for a VP of its age. Soft old Port, very long, with lots of red cherry and plum fruit, and a sharp bitterness (good bitterness) throughout. I gave it second; it came first-equal; justice was done.

Beautifully mature deep red. A little dumb on the nose. Beautiful palate. By a margin the best 1979 I have ever had.