Ramos Pinto Late Bottled Vintage 2018

A Late Bottled Vintage (LBV) is a “single vintage” port that may only be bottled in the 4th to 6th year after the harvest, as opposed to a vintage port, which is only aged in cask for two years before being bottled.

As a result of this long aging period in contact with wood, LBV Port wines have aromas of ripe fruit at an earlier stage than Vintage Port.

Late Bottled Vintage is made from Touriga Nacional (50%), Touriga Franca (45%) and Sousão (5%) grapes.
The grapes are crushed by foot in classic lagare granite vats and fermented for 3-5 days before brandy is added to stop the fermentation.
The LBV is then aged for four years in 15,000 l oak barrels. As is the case with most Ramos Pintos ports, the LBV 2017 is bottled without filtration and heat or cold treatment to preserve as much aroma, fruit and color as possible.
This means that after some time of aging, this LBV – similar to a Vintage Port – may develop sediment, which is why the wine should be decanted.

In the LBV from Ramos Pinto you will find an intense, dark, deep color, still with a bluish tinge in its youth.
The scent is quite immediate, with beautiful and delicate aromas of ripe grapes, figs, chocolate and a bit of anise.
On the palate, 2017 has a good structure and at the same time a good softness and elegance, with lots of delicate fruit characters, with nuances of ripe, dark berries.
It promises a lot for the future, but it is already very harmonious and charming in its youth. It can easily be used with hearty dishes with game (preferably with forest berries) and is just perfect for sheep's cheese, blue cheese and desserts with chocolate.