Port sold "Ex Oporto cellars"

[SCP]

A question for those of you much more knowledgeable on these matters than me (i.e. most of you), pertaining to a recent purchase I may from a reputable UK wine merchant.
Is it possible for (vintage) port to be sold "Ex Oporto cellars" that is actually Duty Paid?
My assumption would be that this phrase typically describes port that would have been stored in the producer's own cellars in VNdG or similar and I don't see any reason why they would wish to convert solid "In Bond" stock to "Duty Paid".
Before the pedants just answer yes to the above question, if so how probable do you think that occurrence would be?

[DRT]

Does the seller have bonded status? Some don't and therefore must clear their stock from bond when they sell it. It could also be that they have split the cases in order to sell single bottles, in which case it cannot be stored and sold IB.

[LGTrotter]

Pass. I don't see why merchants, reputable or otherwise, couldn't sell them either way. But it would probably be easier for them to offer the port in bond, because if anyone wanted delivery it would simply be a case of paying the duty etc and sending them. This would enable the merchant to sell to a wider audience. I for one prefer to buy port in bond if I am going to keep it for a while as it make it a bit more financially bearable and makes it easier to sell if I want to (this has only been a hypothetical possibility so far). I think I have seen Berrys do this (sell ex-cellars stock duty paid).

[PhilW]

Is it possible for (vintage) port to be sold "Ex Oporto cellars" that is actually Duty Paid?

The answer to your question as stated is that it depends on who is selling it; Given your context, if it would be a fair clarification to make the question "Is it possible for (vintage) port to be sold "Ex Oporto cellars" by a UK company that is actually Duty Paid?" then the answer would be yes.

When bottles are purchased and imported into the UK, the buyer is responsible for ensuring that any necessary VAT and duty is paid. If a UK company sells you these bottles, they effectively import the bottles, either to bonded, or non-bonded storage; they then sell you the bottles which may mean that they continue to be held in bonded storage or not, depending on your choice.

Port sold as "Ex Oporto cellars" might have been already (recently?) imported or imported on demand; in either case, were your delivery address to be anything other than a bonded warehouse, then the bottles would have to be sold duty paid.

Before the pedants just answer yes to the above question, if so how probable do you think that occurrence would be?

I can only offer conjecture on the probabilities; I would suspect that most companies buying older ex-cellars bottles would have the ability to purchase, hold and sell in-bond stock, though I would expect them to offer it available as duty-paid as well, as they would have to do this in order to be able to send it to your (non-bonded) address.

[SCP]

Thanks for the responses, I had been looking to store my purchase IB for a few years. The cases were sold by a UK wine merchant, but I had been (erroneously) under the impression that it had been recently released from the producer's own or a local wine merchant's In Bond storage. Turns out that it was being sold privately by an individual who had cellared it themselves, ergo DP.