Definition - Late Bottled Vintage (LBV)
Posted: 14:47 Wed 27 Jun 2007
And another one to get the defintion juices going
Late Bottled Vintage Port, often abbreviated to LBV is Port produced in a singlle year from a producer but is held in barrels for several years before bottling. To be termed Late-Bottled it must have aged between four and six years before bottling.
There are two types of LBV - Unfiltered and Filtered, obviously this refers to whether the Port was filtered before bottling.
Unfiltered LBVs are generally of a higher standard than the filtered and can continue to age gracefully in the bottle. Consequently the price of unfiltered LBV is higher than filtered.
As the Port has aged in barrels for years there is more oxidisation than if it were bottled earlier. Filtered LBVs tend to be very dark and can be drunk as soon as they are released, many of them are not greatly superior to their Ruby brethren.
Unfiltered LBV can be bottle-aged but may also be drunk immediately. A good aged unfiltered LBV can take on some of the characteristics of Vintage Port and generally have greater complexity, are smoother and of generally higher quality. Unfiltered LBV needs decanting to remove sediment, filtered can be drunk straight out of the bottle.
Notable Unfiltered LBVs:
Quinta do Noval
Warre's
Niepoort