LBV Port Wine

LBV is actually an acronym for Late Bottled Vintage. LBV is port wine that has been left un-bottled due to the lack of demand in the market at time of its production. LBV is usually left in the barrel that it is made in for a longer period of time than intended and are not refined or filtered for bottling. The origin of LBV port wine is somewhat disputed and the only reference to its inception goes back to 1964 – Quinta Milieu 1958.

 

The establishment of the fact that LBV port wines are unfiltered versions of the original thing leads us to the knowledge that these wines are bottled with driven corks and need to be decanted before consumption. These wines after decanting need to be consumed within forty eight hours as they spoil easily. LBV is provides the consumer with an experience of the standard vintage port without waiting for it to age and of course costs less than actual vintage port. These wines cost somewhere between $15 and $200 depending on the size and brand of the bottle in question.

 

LBV port wine is of deep red color and rich dark consistency. A bottling date will be visible on the bottle that a consumer purchases which gives him an idea of how long this wine has aged and what it will have to offer in terms of taste. The label on an LBV port wine bottle has a lot to say. It will tell you if it has been filtered or fined – the word Traditional or Tradition boast of the having aged for some years. Labels which do not have anything specified on them are a bit of a risk since the consumer does not know if the harmful tannins have been taken care of. Filtering an LBV may ensure that the harmful tannins have been removed but it also plays around with the taste and compromises the quality of a port wine.