Quinta GV Lordelo 2009

The 2009 Late Bottled Vintage Port (Quinta da Gaivosa) was aged in a mixture of stainless steel and oak (50% stainless steel; 50% for three years in old 600-liter casks) and bottled in April 2013. It comes in at 103 grams per liter of residual sugar. Probably my favorite of the winery's mini-vertical this issue, by a hair, this full-bodied LBV shows plenty of power and intensity, ending with a sweet and tasty finish. Laced with herbal nuances and briar, brambles and rhubarb mingled with sugar, it turns astringent pretty fast. It is, however, a touch rounder than the 2004 and also a bit less flamboyant in flavor profile. It seems transparent and complex, too, something that allows its intensely flavored fruit to simply shine. Some 3-4 days later, it finally softened. This is an LBV that will probably benefit from a year or two in the cellar, but it can be approached now. In fact, is quite delicious. Have some now. Have some in five years. Have some in 20. It should all be good. Tiago Alves de Sousa said in an email, "Our approach to LBV is almost the same as for Vintage Port - it has to be something really special and with the ability to grow and develop over time in the bottle. The quantities produced are never too big (around 5000 bottles only)....for LBV we don't compromise at all in terms of quality - basically the same philosophy of production that we have for Vintage Ports." He added that "2009 was indeed a great year–for me it had everything to be a classic year for Vintage Port but unfortunately it wasn't, to be totally honest, especially because of that idea that it can only be three classic vintages per decade...The real winners of not pushing it forward were... LBVs! LBVs ended up integrating in the blends a lot of great stuff that could have went instead to Vintage Ports....[In] 2010 we didn't make any Vintage Port (neither single Quinta or anything), and decided to make a bit less so all the best juice went to the LBV. So I'm very happy with both 2009 and 2010." This winery is another that calls the wines "lightly filtered," but uses a long cork and considers them traditional in style. I would add another style element: they seem to show fresh, bright, herbal fruit and a certain transparency. They have a very different flavor profile than most. Perhaps that is because of the use of stainless steel, but in any event, the fruit here just seems different. The bold flavor often seem fresher, with that herbal overtone. They show very well in their style. Vive la difference. Note that not all of the producer's importers necessarily bring in all of the wines. I'm told the LBVs are carried by The Artisan Collection and Vinum.