Barros LBV Port 2019
£21.25
The wine
Aromas of fresh fruit and red berries are accompanied by subtle sensations of mint and orange blossom. Firm, elegant tannins envelop the palate, leaving flavours of fresh red fruit and spices through to a sweet and elegant finish.
Late Bottled Vintage is Port from a single year, aged four to six years in wood before bottling. That extra cask time softens the tannins so the wine is ready on release, unlike Vintage Port which needs decades in glass. LBV was devised in the 1950s to give drinkers the character of a vintage wine without the wait.
The producer
Barros
View all Barros winesBarros was founded in 1913 by Manoel de Almeida and José Barros, and celebrated its centenary a little over a decade ago. It sits among the most prestigious of the Port houses, and its reputation rests on one style in particular.
Colheita is Port from a single declared year, aged in cask rather than bottle for a minimum of seven years and frequently for far longer. It is the most demanding of the tawny styles, because a single vintage must carry the wine alone through decades of slow oxidation without the safety net of blending. Barros keep theirs in wood well beyond the legal minimum, and the house holds one of the deepest reserves of old Colheita in the Douro.
The lodges are at Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from Porto, where Port has been aged since the eighteenth century because the cool damp air off the Atlantic suits long cask maturation far better than the fierce heat of the Douro valley itself. Ruby, White, LBV, Vintage and both tawny ages complete the range.
