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90-Points by Wine Advocate. 

The 2016 Late Bottled Vintage Port was bottled in May 2022. It is a field blend aged for 72 months in wood. This is unfiltered, alone among the Fladgate Group's LBVs. Easily the most expressive of the Group's LBVs, this is still made in an accessible, easy fashion without big tannins or a lot of depth, and it is not supposed to be a wine to be held and aged a long time. In the long run, therefore, it isn't really much of a step up, if at all. Key trade-offs here, though, as with its siblings, are a great price point, lots of flavor and immediate accessibility. It is very elegant. Best after 2022.

 

  • LBV stands for Late Bottled Vintage. LBV was developed as an alternative to Vintage Port for more relaxed and informal occasions. Like Vintage, LBV is a very high quality Port from a single year. However, unlike Vintage Port, which is bottled after only two years in wood, LBV is bottled after four to six years and is ready to drink when bottled. The wines used to produce Fonseca LBV were drawn from a reserve of some of the best full-bodied red Ports produced at the 2016 harvest, from grapes grown on Fonseca's own vineyards and on other top properties in the Cima Corgo and Douro Superior areas of the Douro. LBV Unfiltered is aged in large wooden vats and then drawn off into bottle with no fining or filtration. The result is a naturally expressive wine which has sacrificed none of its depth and fullness of flavor. Late Bottled Vintage is bottled when ready to drink.
  • From the legendary 1840, Fonseca's first Vintage Port release, to the superb declared vintages of the last decade, the house has produced a succession of highly acclaimed wines even in the most adverse moments of history. 
  • This consistency derives not only from continuity of family involvement, and the knowledge and skill passed down from one generation to the next, but also a close link with the vineyard.  The firm's three estates of Cruzeiro, Panascal and Santo António are the heart of the distinctive character of Fonseca's Vintage Ports. 
  • Fonseca's respect for the vineyard and the unique environment of the Douro Valley expresses itself in the firm's leadership in the field of sustainable and organic viticulture. It was the first house to offer a Port made entirely from organically produced grapes.
  • As it approaches its bicentenary, Fonseca can take pride in its past and look forward to the future with confidence. Wine drinkers increasingly seek wines of authenticity and character with a genuine story to tell and made by creative winemakers who understand their terroir and respect the environment.
  • Perhaps more than any other Port house, Fonseca has built a loyal community of Port enthusiasts who value its individuality and the inimitable character of its wines. These include connoisseurs, collectors, sommeliers and restaurateurs as well as those who simply enjoy drinking its wonderfully rich and complex Ports.

Fonseca Late Bottled Vintage, Unfiltered, Douro, Portugal 2016, 2oz Glass

SKU: BTG
$15.00Price
  • Style

    Dessert
  • Vintage

    2016