Exploring Port styles

Vintage Port is not the only Port style that needs decanting (‘How to serve and preserve sweet and fortified wines’, January 2021). There are two others that need decanting which, of course, can be made quite an enjoyable social event if tongs are used*.

Crusted Port is a rich, fruity blend of at least two harvests and can even be three. The Ports are blended and bottled without either fining or filtration. As the wine matures in bottle, it throws a deposit or ‘crust’. The label states the year of bottling, but the blend remains a secret of the shipper. Crusted is fantastic value for money, and can age almost as long.

Unfiltered late bottled vintage (LBV) is the other style, previously termed Traditional. It is a single-harvest Port that is matured in wood for four to six years, while vintage receives just two years. Noval is thought to be the first Port house to create an LBV, using the 1954 crop, but Taylor successfully marketed the filtered version and ensured the success seen today. Shippers offering the original style include Niepoort and Quinta do Noval. Since 2002, the unfiltered may state ‘Bottle Matured’ or