Latest buy

[richmills]

2x Krohn Colheita '76
1x Grahams '70
1x Fonseca '70
2x Grahams '77
6x Qunita do Vesuvio '94

Stop me, I need help.

[PhilW]

2x Krohn Colheita '76
1x Grahams '70
1x Fonseca '70
2x Grahams '77
6x Qunita do Vesuvio '94

Stop me, I need help.

Looks like you're doing fine to me - A very nice selection.

[LGTrotter]

2x Krohn Colheita '76
1x Grahams '70
1x Fonseca '70
2x Grahams '77
6x Qunita do Vesuvio '94

Stop me, I need help.

Looks like you're doing fine to me - A very nice selection.

Quite right Phil. I think it should be compulsory to buy a dozen in January to restock after the cellar predations of Christmas.

[mapmap]

Here are my latest and only buys so far (being new to the port community):

2x Graham 1970,
1x Taylor flatmate 1985 (I am born in 85),
3x Fonseca 2011,
5x Dows 2011.

And some tawny Andresen 10yrs white port and Ramos Pinto 20yrs to drink meanwhile!

[LGTrotter]

Here are my latest and only buys so far (being new to the port community):

2x Graham 1970,
1x Taylor flatmate 1985 (I am born in 85),
3x Fonseca 2011,
5x Dows 2011.

And some tawny Andresen 10yrs white port and Ramos Pinto 20yrs to drink meanwhile!

An excellent selection. 1985 is a good year to be born in for port, Taylor is lovely, Graham is better (my opinion) the Fonseca is stunning (everybody's opinion) and there are very good wines from Warre and Dow. You have a long wait ahead of you for the 2011s though.

And I bought a case of Gould Campbell 97. Just because it was a bargain.

[mapmap]

I read the same about 85! Slowly but surely I'll try to buy more, starting off with some of your suggestions when ill be able to find any!! About the 2011, I have no problem waiting! I plan on opening a 2011 every 10 to 20 years and leave one or two bottles for my kids someday!

[LGTrotter]

Half a dozen 1983 Wine Society Exhibition port. I have next to no 83s and they are £44/bottle all in on the January clearance list. This seems more achievable than some of the more fanciful notions I have been having of late.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Half a dozen 1983 Wine Society Exhibition port. I have next to no 83s and they are £44/bottle all in on the January clearance list. This seems more achievable than some of the more fanciful notions I have been having of late.

If I recall correctly, this is Warre 1983. Warre 1983 was shown at the BBR Port Walk and showed very nicely, marginally overshadowed by the 1985. I'd be a buyer at £44 per bottle - that's very nice port.

[DaveRL]

Half a dozen 1983 Wine Society Exhibition port. I have next to no 83s and they are £44/bottle all in on the January clearance list. This seems more achievable than some of the more fanciful notions I have been having of late.

Thanks for the heads up, I've bought 6. I've been buying 85s and 80s rather than 83s and I keep wondering if it is a mistake to have so few of the 83s. Will they come good over the next decade or so, and could I be missing out on some great wines?

[Alex Bridgeman]

Half a dozen 1983 Wine Society Exhibition port. I have next to no 83s and they are £44/bottle all in on the January clearance list. This seems more achievable than some of the more fanciful notions I have been having of late.

Thanks for the heads up, I've bought 6. I've been buying 85s and 80s rather than 83s and I keep wondering if it is a mistake to have so few of the 83s. Will they come good over the next decade or so, and could I be missing out on some great wines?

Symington '83s are good. TFP '83s have me less convinced.

We will have hours of endless fun over the next 30 years debating which of the Graham '83 or the '85 is the better wine. Hopefully the Major's Matrix '80s tasting will illustrate these are very different wines but both very good.

And when building up your port stocks from the '80s, don't overlook '82 (Noval is very pleasant), '86 (Vargellas, Terra Feita, Malvedos) or '87 (Vargellas, Malvedos, Cavadinha, Noval, Martinez). All should have a place in a balanced '80s portfolio since this is the decade that is very likely to form the heart of the next 30-40 years of drinking for the majority of people on the Forum. The '60s and '70s are rapidly escalating in price but there are still plenty of '80s around.

[LGTrotter]

Thanks for the heads up, I've bought 6. I've been buying 85s and 80s rather than 83s and I keep wondering if it is a mistake to have so few of the 83s. Will they come good over the next decade or so, and could I be missing out on some great wines?

No problem. I hope they turn out OK, a lot of reviews have been quite scathing. But Alex liked them so I thought it worth a punt. I never much cared for the 83, rather, dry inexpressive wines. I think it likely they might wake up in the future though. I wonder about Alex's recommendations of the 82. I drank gallons of the Croft and Martinez 82 about 10 years ago and they were terrific. I thought they seemed unlikely to do much in the future so I have none left. I should have saved a few to check.

[DaveRL]

I think the 60s have all but escaped me. Ah well. Perhaps I can still obtain a bottle or two of 66. I think some 70s are reasonably obtainable (I bought some Sandeman recently and will try one soon when settled). They do seem to be going up in price. I've some T83 and not been so impressed. I will get some Symington 83s if price right and assuming I get enough of the usual suspects from 85 - I'll need some variety. Thanks for the tips on 82, 86 and 87. I've kept my eyes open for 87s but so far not seen anything that screamed buy me. I had better look harder.

[Alex Bridgeman]

I think the 60s have all but escaped me. Ah well. Perhaps I can still obtain a bottle or two of 66. I think some 70s are reasonably obtainable (I bought some Sandeman recently and will try one soon when settled). They do seem to be going up in price. I've some T83 and not been so impressed. I will get some Symington 83s if price right and assuming I get enough of the usual suspects from 85 - I'll need some variety. Thanks for the tips on 82, 86 and 87. I've kept my eyes open for 87s but so far not seen anything that screamed buy me. I had better look harder.

When I was in Laithwates before Christmas they had Mz87 in stock for £37.50. I thought that was a fair price and got a couple since I drank my last one some years ago.

[DaveRL]

Thanks for the heads up, I've bought 6. I've been buying 85s and 80s rather than 83s and I keep wondering if it is a mistake to have so few of the 83s. Will they come good over the next decade or so, and could I be missing out on some great wines?

No problem. I hope they turn out OK, a lot of reviews have been quite scathing. But Alex liked them so I thought it worth a punt. I never much cared for the 83, rather, dry inexpressive wines. I think it likely they might wake up in the future though. I wonder about Alex's recommendations of the 82. I drank gallons of the Croft and Martinez 82 about 10 years ago and they were terrific. I thought they seemed unlikely to do much in the future so I have none left. I should have saved a few to check.

I have had the WS83 before. I reviewed one and was a bit unsure, but the second bottle was better after settling down for a month or so. I've passed on a couple of reasonably well priced 83s in the past because of the reputation, but am beginning to think I should buy at least a few to stash away if at the right price. I've not ben impressed with T83 or F83 but D83 and G83 are growing on me.

Winesearcher shows a few 82s and 87s but very limited availability and often a little pricey. Considering AHB's suggestion of Mz87. Probably is worth a punt.

[LGTrotter]

One further thought on the Wine Society 83s; they have been recorked. I will probably leave mine a year or two as I think this can take a while to settle down.

[Old Bridge]

First I bought some bottles of Niepoort Bioma Vintage 2009 for grandchild to get in 2030 (21st). Then the opportunity came to buy Taylor's Vintage Port 2009, so I bought the same amount of that.
Now I am wondering which batch will be the better in 20 to 40 years time? They both seem to get good reviews. Anybody with thoughts on this?

[jdaw1]

And who will get the better bottles?

[Old Bridge]

Granddaughter def.

I shall be too old (or having stopped smoking a pipe) to enjoy either.
ps Does that make a difference?

[jdaw1]

Does that make a difference?

Yes. Why not give her both?

[Old Bridge]

Because there are 4 more!
(grandchildren, that is. So far...)

[LGTrotter]

I broke my duck on the 2011 vintage. Half a case of 2011 Quinta da Senhora do Convento at £24/bottle retail. I hope Alex is right about this wine, all I have to do now is live long enough to drink it.

[DaveRL]

Very well done. Seems a very good price. I've kept half an eye out for this after AHB's review but haven't seen it anywhere.

[richmills]

I broke my duck on the 2011 vintage. Half a case of 2011 Quinta da Senhora do Convento at £24/bottle retail. I hope Alex is right about this wine, all I have to do now is live long enough to drink it.

Can't argue with that price.

I know what you mean though, I have a small amount of Grahams and Fonseca, but I'm going to have make it to 80 not out to have a chance of enjoying them in my preferred drinking window. Looking back on my youthful indiscretions and being honest with myself I have to remain doubtful about that

Cheers, Rich.

[DaveRL]

I broke my duck on the 2011 vintage. Half a case of 2011 Quinta da Senhora do Convento at £24/bottle retail. I hope Alex is right about this wine, all I have to do now is live long enough to drink it.

Can't argue with that price.

I know what you mean though, I have a small amount of Grahams and Fonseca, but I'm going to have make it to 80 not out to have a chance of enjoying them in my preferred drinking window. Looking back on my youthful indiscretions and being honest with myself I have to remain doubtful about that

Cheers, Rich.

I have a few cases of 2011s. Can't really see me drinking many, but I like the idea of leaving them to my children, assuming they like VP. Currently they are not so sure - younger son only likes NZ pinot, older son likes quite a few different wines but isn't so sure about VP, not that we let them have more than a sip or two.

[mapmap]

I'm 31, with no children yet, and I already planned on leaving a few VP bottles for my future kids as well! As much as I like your tradition in England to buy a VP and give it to your kids when they reach 21 or any important life event such as weddings and graduations. Strangely, this is something I never heard before reading on VP, here in Canada...

As for my newest purchases, I bought 4 bottles of Dows, 1x 94 and 3x 2003. I wish I could have gotten a few more of 94, but this was the last bottle for sale... Cheers!

[LGTrotter]

Needing to top up my port for drinking now-ish locker I have bought today a mixed dozen, one Fonseca 83, one Warre 83, two Warre 85, two Graham 80, two Graham 83 (in deference to Glenn's opinion), two Graham 85 (in deference to my own opinion), and two Croft 77. The cupboard is now looking much healthier. Entirely coincidentally a parcel from Paxton & Whitfield arrived today, so now I am torn between opening a proper bottle to go with the cheese or soldiering on with this open bottle of 2009 Quinta do Convento. I will open a bottle of Chateuneuf to aid my deliberations.

[Old Bridge]

Over the last few weeks I have bought:

Dow's Vintage Port 1985
Warre's 1985 Vintage Port
Smith Woodhouse traditionel LBV 2003 bottle matured
Fonseca Late Bottled Vintage Unfiltered 2011
Pocas LBV 2009
Taylor Vintage Port 2009
Graham's Vintage Port 2000
Quinta do Infantado Vintage 2000 (150 cl)
Graham's The Stone Terraces Vintage Port 2015
Quinta do Vallado Tawny 40 YO

[richmills]

Since the new year I have done my usual annual stocking up and bought:

3x Offley '94
3x Taylor '85
1x Graham '70
1x Kopke colheita '57
1x Graham 40yr tawny

[Alex Bridgeman]

I'm proud to say that while I haven't bought anything this year I have just taken delivery of some things I bought last year:

12 x 20cl bottles of Graham 30YO tawny
2 x 75cl Quinta do Noval 1968 colheita
1 x 150cl Berry Brothers own selection 2011 vintage port
4 x 74 cl Dow 1963

[PhilW]

4 x 74 cl Dow 1963

Deliberate unusual size? (or just a typo?)

[uncle tom]

12 x 20cl bottles of Graham 30YO tawny
2 x 75cl Quinta do Noval 1968 colheita

AHB buying brown sticky stuff? Whatever next!

[Alex Bridgeman]

4 x 74 cl Dow 1963

Deliberate unusual size? (or just a typo?)

A typo, although I don't know how I would ever find out a bottle was 74cl rather than 75cl (these have no labels).

12 x 20cl bottles of Graham 30YO tawny
2 x 75cl Quinta do Noval 1968 colheita

AHB buying brown sticky stuff? Whatever next!

Indeed, it doesn't happen often. However, on occasions when I know I will be away for a week or two I don't want to open a bottle of VP or LBV the night before I leave, but I do want to have a glass of port. I've enjoyed using my share of the half bottles of Pocas Junior 40YO tawny that I split with Charles for this purpose but now only have one or two bottles left. I wanted to have something to open once they had all gone and the 20cl bottles work really well — small enough to finish in a night but large enough to get a couple of decent glasses from one.

And the Noval 1968 comes with a track record. The first time I tried it was in 2010. I was at a tasting where several bottles of vintage port were opened (Cockburn 1963, Gould Campbell 1970, Martinez 1967, Noval 1963, Noval 1962/63 blend, Nacional 1983 and Taylor 1970). In there was a ringer — a bottle of Noval 1968 bottled earlier in 2010. It was easy to spot the colheita from the colour, nose and flavour profile - but boy was it good. Alongside the Noval 1962/63 blend it was my wine of the night, intensely flavoured, concentrated acidity and a finish that I was still tasting the next morning. By choice, I don't drink much tawny but when I do I like to drink well.

[gerwin.degraaf]

1970 Messias Quinta do Cachao VP 2x (@ well under €40 a bottle, I thought it was an acceptable gamble

[LGTrotter]

Half a case of 77 Quarles Harris. Jancis rates it.

[DaveRL]

Half a case of 77 Quarles Harris. Jancis rates it.

A very good choice. It was good at the 77 horizontal in December. I very nearly gave it a point, but thought the Taylor edged it on potential which was perhaps unfair to the QH. Probably label bias.

I have also just acquired some Quarles Harris 77, but in magnums.

[Christopher]

Warre 66 and 70
Sandeman 70
Taylor 70
Tukes Holdsworth 55
Cockburn 47 and 67

[Alex Bridgeman]

Half a case of 77 Quarles Harris. Jancis rates it.

It's not just Jancis who rates it. Good buy.

[Doggett]

Not a recent purchase... but took delivery of 12 bottles of Graham's Malvedos 2015 vintage this week following a purchase of a Port Bond from Vintage Wine & Port in 2015 to celebrate my wedding year. I have only seen 1 tasting note for it so far, in Wine Spectator Feb 2018 issue, where it scores 94 points (behind The Stone Terraces @ 96, Noval @95 and Quinta do Vallado @ 95, but equal or better than 24 others). I shall look forward to trying one to see if it has the creamed raspberry, boysenberry, açai, anise, fruitcake, milk chocolate and "fruit to burn".

[richmills]

6x Grahams '85

I've been looking to pick some of this up for ages now at a reasonable price and finally got some, happy days

[gerwin.degraaf]

Fonseca 1997 VP (Magnum). Just bought this at auction over here. I realised (about 20 seconds after the fact), that I overbid myself online by putting in a higher bid on the standing bid (which was my own written bid, that I put in earlier) . But at least I prevented another online bidder to sweep this one away from me (which happened to another lot on which I had a written bid). And the result in the end for the magnum is€100 (+ costs) which is not too bad I guess.

[Christopher]

Dow 1980
Warre 1983 - the first case of Port I ever owned! Good to have a refill!

[richmills]

2x Taylor '77
2x Warre '77
2x Graham '77
2x Fonseca '77

For those of us who have to buy retail it seems like there are some relatively good bargains to be had on the '77s now we're out of the 40th anniversary year

[Alex Bridgeman]

2x Taylor '77
2x Warre '77
2x Graham '77
2x Fonseca '77

For those of us who have to buy retail it seems like there are some relatively good bargains to be had on the '77s now we're out of the 40th anniversary year

That's good news. '77 is drinking very nicely now.

[uncle tom]

For those of us who have to buy retail it seems like there are some relatively good bargains to be had on the '77s now we're out of the 40th anniversary year

'77 is a rare instance of a vintage that is still in ample supply on the secondary market after passing 40.

'80 though is much scarcer and also another scarce vintage for other wine types - I doubt the prices for the '80s will settle much, if at all, after their 40th surge - so buy now..

[gerwin.degraaf]

2011 Fonseca VP, 8 halves
2000 Q. do Noval Silval, 12 bottles

[gerwin.degraaf]

1970 Butler Nephew VP (belgian botteling, G Thienpont "Red rich Alto Douro Portwine), 12 bottles

[gerwin.degraaf]

1977 Delaforce VP (2x Magnum)

[Alex Bridgeman]

I've just taken delivery of 6 70cl bottles of Taylor 1970. The slightly smaller bottles look quite quaint.

[H_Sterling]

Waitrose (or my nearest store, at least) are having something of a sale on at the moment with LBVs.

Warre 2004 (rooted behind the 2007s..!) £18

[g-man]

Did some vertical shopping for the holidays
2x each of cockburn 19 55, 60, 67,70,75,83,85,91,94, 97, 2000, 2003
2x each of fonseca 19 60,63,66, 70, 75, 77, 80, 83, 85