port identification of vintage years.

[tasty tipple]

hello
i'm new here and i was directed here on a quest for help and knowledge.
Recently whilst clearing out the basement a found some old wine bottles, on closer inspection they are bottle of port.
My question is to anyone in the know is this, what are they and is there any value in them as sealed wine or should i just open them up and try them.
One is a bottle of 1963 vintage croft port sealed and with port visible upto the cork , which is sealed and undamaged.
The second is a bottle of Vintage 1955 Rebello Valente port, same condition(sealed and undamaged etc)

Does anyone have any info on these and if they have any value , should i i drink or tuck them away.

many thanks in advance
TT

[jdaw1]

If the basement is cool, and not too variable in its coolness, the Croft 1963 has every prospect of being delicious. It can be bought retail for £60 to £80 a bottle; a retail seller is unlikely to get more than half of that.

Rebello Valente 1955 is less likely to be wonderful, but is unusual. Price hard to estimate: that sort of bottle would be just-sub-£100 at auction.

Drink them. Or bring them to a tasting.

[g-man]

in the states teh croft 63 can be bought for ~100$ retail

jdaw's story on the rebello is the same for us int he states.

drink them or bring them to a tasting if yer in NY

[JacobH]

If the basement is cool, and not too variable in its coolness, the Croft 1963 has every prospect of being delicious. It can be bought retail for £60 to £80 a bottle; a retail seller is unlikely to get more than half of that.

I’m not sure there’s much Croft 1963 going for £60 retail any more (except as part of a case); I think £80 or more is a much more likely figure.

[DRT]

If the basement is cool, and not too variable in its coolness, the Croft 1963 has every prospect of being delicious. It can be bought retail for £60 to £80 a bottle; a retail seller is unlikely to get more than half of that.

I’m not sure there’s much Croft 1963 going for £60 retail any more (except as part of a case); I think £80 or more is a much more likely figure.

Wine Searcher is currently showing one source at £60, but when you follow the link to the hideously arty-farty website you can't actually see the price. The other sources range from £80-£120 per bottle.

[RAYC]

If the basement is cool, and not too variable in its coolness, the Croft 1963 has every prospect of being delicious. It can be bought retail for £60 to £80 a bottle; a retail seller is unlikely to get more than half of that.

I’m not sure there’s much Croft 1963 going for £60 retail any more (except as part of a case); I think £80 or more is a much more likely figure.

Wine Searcher is currently showing one source at £60, but when you follow the link to the hideously arty-farty website you can't actually see the price. The other sources range from £80-£120 per bottle.

I got mine mid-last year for £55. These old bottles come and go - but there seems to be more Cr63 about than most: just because there's none right now doesn't mean there won't be in future. So if you're a buyer, i'd wait. That said, 2013 is fast approaching: if you're a seller, I'd probably also wait and sell next year to try to take advantage of the 50th birth-year market....