Should an LBV from a good year of vintage ports be any better than the normal LBV (such as a 2000)? In particular, this is Dow, but I also wonder in general if LBV quality follows the trend of the vintage year wines.
Hmm, good question. I could see arguments for a good vintage year being irrelevant, an asset, or to the detriment (if the best grapes went into the VP). My limited experience is that good VP years are good LBV years.
That's a good point that I overlooked. They wouldn't waste their best juice on LBV is they can sell it for 5 times more as vintage.
I went ahead and bought this and tired it. I wish I could compare head to head to the '98, but alas it's all gone.
But from memory, the 2000 Dow's LBV is very sweet by comparison, and maybe a little smoky (is this called tobacco?) on the nose. More complex, I think.
I know most people wouldn't take LBV's seriously, but I can't afford to drink good vintage ports, and don't like rubys or tawnys.
Thomas wrote in news:uM%mf.697$z21.323@fed1read04:
Well, I attended a great tasting one month ago with six vintages (1963,
1970, 1985, 1994, 2000 and 2003) of Vintage Dow's, Warres and Graham's and I have to say that sweet tobacco leaf is the predominant note in all the Dow's. So, if the LBV displays part of this character, it should be a good Port.S.
I would not dismiss LBVs out of hand. The best of them may not age like vintage Port but still have a lot of the same character. In a sense, it's like talking about second labels in Bordeaux: Forts de Latour isn't Latour, but still a very good wine in its own right.
Mark Lipton
I probably shouldn't talk about it without knowing (or studying up), but I assume the production methods are different. A second label Bordeaux would be made with, if not inferior grapes, certainly less superior. But the wine would be made the same. Late bottled vintage ports are produced to be consumed immediately, unlike vintage. So the production would be different.
All that being said, and possibly not correct, they'd certainly not age the same. Good vintage Port can be at its peak in 15 or 30 or more years, and still be drinkable in 100. LBVs will lack the tanic structure, but with the high alcohol and sugar it could "keep", if not age, for some time.
The reason I was first asking is that I was wondering if I should buy a case of more of this 2000 Dow's, as I might not be able to buy it later ($14 a bottle). I suppose I should if I like it, kind of hard to decide because of the sweetness.
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