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The following three posts were moved by jdaw1 from the organisation thread Niepoort LBV vertical.

Would love to see how the notes compare to the Niepoort LBVs compare to those in the recent "Old LBV" tasting held in Seattle


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CaliforniaBrad wrote:Would love to see how the notes compare to the Niepoort LBVs compare to those in the recent "Old LBV" tasting held in Seattle

Unfortunately, we didn't get to try the 1988 Niepoort LBV. The line up was 2009, 2003, 1996, 1992, 1990, 1982, 1981 and 1975. My favourite for drinking today was the 1981 but the bottle which impressed me most was the 2009.

And the only one in my cellar is the 2000.

AHB wrote:

CaliforniaBrad wrote:Would love to see how the notes compare to the Niepoort LBVs compare to those in the recent "Old LBV" tasting held in Seattle

Unfortunately, we didn't get to try the 1988 Niepoort LBV. The line up was 2009, 2003, 1996, 1992, 1990, 1982, 1981 and 1975. My favourite for drinking today was the 1981 but the bottle which impressed me most was the 2009.

And the only one in my cellar is the 2000.

We tried 1988, 1997 and 1999, so no overlap haha.


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The Niepoort LBV masterclass at the BFT.

First three, ’75, ’81, ’82, all lovely. Dirk claimed to prefer the ’81, but one could reasonably have chosen any of them.

I was less keen on the '75 which seemed quite harsh to me, though I suspect might well have improved with more time post-decant. The '81 and '82 were both enjoyable - the '82 had a little less fruit, while the '81 was slightly fuller with more richness and complexity, almost like an '83 VP and was my top choice from all of them; the '90 seemed very odd to me, oddly flat and lacking. The others ('92, '96, '03, '09) were all too young for my taste, though the '03 stood out amongst them as powerful and interesting.

Agree with Phil, the 75 seemed like an experiment that didn't quite go to plan. I also initially wasn't that disposed towards the 81 (although it was Dirk's favourite), as it seemed to have a slightly metallic aftertaste. It did however seem to open up towards the end of the tasting. For me, the 2003 was the most easily accessible followed by the 96 and the 90.

Very interesting, apologies for not having a moment to post notes earlier; Dirk said that the 81 was the best LBV ever, but that LBV as a category is 'banalised' in the UK. He had a few other good lines: "To be a good blender, one has to be a terroiriste." "Two plus two equals ten." He also said that port oxidises more dramatically if it's put in steel than in pipes, and that it matures more naturally if it's given some time in pipes first. And he told us that he has too many stupid ideas.

djewesbury wrote:And he told us that he has too many stupid ideas.

I thought (though I might not be remembering correctly) he said "lots of" rather than "too many", which if true can be a very good thing, depending on your role (assuming that stupid is simply self-deprecating rather than literally true!).

I defer. I personally don't think he has any stupid ideas, needless to say.