Decant: None - South Africa. LBV, bottled unfiltered. First made in the '90s, Bredell now sells around 50,000 half bottles per year of LBV and no longer bottles LBV in 75cl bottles. This port is made from a blend of Tinta Barroca, Souzao, Touriga Nacional and Touriga Francesa and is deep red in colour, leaving red tears and beads on the glass. A rich and inviting nose comes out of the glass, smelling of baked plum crumble. Very soft and sweet in the mouth with a wonderful rich fruitcake complexity. Very sweet indeed, but the sweetness is offset by just the right amount of acidity. A long, long aftertaste with several layers of fruit cake showing at different times.
This is a fantastic LBV and with an interesting story behind it. In 2000, Bredell ran out of used wine barrels for maturing port and so used a small number of new wood barrels. Unfortunately, when these barrels were tasted prior to blending and bottling of the Cape Vintage wines, they were found to be too dominated by oak. As a result, a decision was taken to declassify these barrels and use them in the LBV, where the subtle oaking was more normal. 6 years on, there is not a trace of oak to be found in the LBV and this blend outperforms the Cape Vintage wine. 93 points
TN: 2000 Bredell's LBV
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