Heranca Late Bottled Vintage Port 2012

An LBV port from Taylor's, exclusive to Virgin Wines

LBV is a vintage port, i.e. made with grapes from a single year, that is aged in wood for several years before release.

This means that it matures more quickly than vintage port and so is ready for earlier drinking; while vintage port can mature for decades, LBV is intended to be ready for drinking on release at between four and six years from the vintage.

This Heranca LBV, however, is eight years from vintage and still very youthful; it benefits from extensive aeration and feels some years off its peak. There's nothing not to like now, it's just there will be more to love if you can hold on to it for a while.

Heranca Late Bottled Vintage Port 2012 (£14.99, Virgin Wines) rich, warm and spicy with vine fruits, prunes and figs plus classic porty eucalptus and sweet spice; dense, concentrated and viscose with a firm muscular core.

Improves with aeration and will age further.

Good.

Match with chocolate-and-cherry torte or drink as an after-dinner digestif.

It also gets a nod from the Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/extras/indybest/food-drink/wine/best-ports-wine-9788055.html