ThePortForum.com

I’ve been struggling but failing to buy a bottle of the Graham’s № 5 White Port (the one with the fancy bottle) locally so I have bitten the bullet and bought it online at full price (£21). I hope it is worth it!

The auction market having gone slightly demented this year, I've only bought 17 bottles of VP so far this year, and nothing at all for the last two months.

The release prices for the 2018's I've seen so far seem to be broadly in the same ball-park as the retail prices for the same wines from the 1970 vintage - which is just insane..

That really is crazy, but then I get the impression that some wines, particularly the Dow’s SdR are being marketed firmly at the investors rather than the drinkers (who understand en primeur releases but not secondary auctions)....

I also am drawing a blank on recent auction purchases (just two bottles of burgundy since early April). Post-virus madness seems to be infecting the markets. Instead I have been hoovering up at retail bottles I have tried and considered to be underpriced After buying a case of 2000 Sainsbury's TTD on 30 June I am now having a month of no wine buying.

Sadly the case of 2000 Sainsbury's TTD I had planned on acquiring turned into 6 bottles on arrival at the store, with the 2015 Taylor LBV being the offered substitute. I look forward to trying some of it in the coming weeks, until I joined TPF I was always of the notion that the supermarket OL offerings were always far inferior, but it seems they are actually potentially decent juice...

winesecretary wrote: ↑20:50 Mon 06 Jul 2020 I also am drawing a blank on recent auction purchases (just two bottles of burgundy since early April). Post-virus madness seems to be infecting the markets. Instead I have been hoovering up at retail bottles I have tried and considered to be underpriced After buying a case of 2000 Sainsbury's TTD on 30 June I am now having a month of no wine buying.

Would that be the rest of June being the "month of no wine buying"?

Day ten; wine stocks worryingly close to dipping below four figures; will I make it to the end of the month without running out?

I have actually been reasonably active in the auction market this year. I don’t think there has been a huge amount of supply which together with some more active buying generally of wine when people have been stuck at home has pushed prices up. However I have managed to acquire some bottles I am very happy with.
I note your comment Tom about the latest release prices V older ports and therefore to me I am happy to keep on buying these older vintage and paying up a bit when I think the bottles look excellent, fundamentally I ask myself where are these prices going and I just think they are going up and in a few years time we will look back as be amazed at what we are paying today. The same as we do today looking back 10 years ago. Of course there are parts of the Port market and specific vintages that will perform better than others.
I do think the reduction of VP production since 1985 is coming through in way less supply at auction and I actually am happy to buy on release selectively, I am not convinced I will buy the specific 2011‘s I purchased cheaper than I did at release and I like the fact I purchased them then.
The growth of Port tourism is not only creating a lot more demand for new vintages that are sold through the shops at the lodges over multiple years. It also creates new consumers as they get to try the more premium end of the Port market creating more demand for that ‘special bottle’.

3 x Taylor 1977 VP for £113 all in per bottle.

Alex M wrote: ↑18:26 Tue 14 Jul 2020 3 x Taylor 1977 VP for £113 all in per bottle.

A very good wine, but seriously compromised by truly dreadful corks when first bottled. Recent late releases are all re-corked.

Around 70% of T77 at auction have seepage issues..

uncle tom wrote: ↑18:45 Tue 14 Jul 2020

Alex M wrote: ↑18:26 Tue 14 Jul 2020 3 x Taylor 1977 VP for £113 all in per bottle.

A very good wine, but seriously compromised by truly dreadful corks when first bottled. Recent late releases are all re-corked.

Around 70% of T77 at auction have seepage issues..

Levels about 2cm into neck on all. Each bottle weights 1349g and no signs of seepage. They've not been moved since the 1980's. Hopefully i've done alright. I'll open one in a few days and post a note.

At last!

My first bargain of the year..

8 bottle lot, six asst. 80's era Mz VP, one Crasto '85 VP, but the star turn, an uber rare RCV 1973 colheita.

Cost: £220 hammer..

nice buy tom from a good auction house

uncle tom wrote: ↑13:22 Wed 15 Jul 2020 At last!

My first bargain of the year..

8 bottle lot, six asst. 80's era Mz VP, one Crasto '85 VP, but the star turn, an uber rare RCV 1973 colheita.

Cost: £220 hammer..

73 my year..cool!

I've had mixed experiences with the 85 crasto VP. Early on it was holding but lately it has gone rather pale and in a place to start drinking them up.

I thought that might grab your attention Andy - have you had/own that wine..?

uncle tom wrote: ↑18:53 Wed 15 Jul 2020 I thought that might grab your attention Andy - have you had/own that wine..?

No. Never seen a bottle in person.

Bonhams sale today ran out of steam towards the end..

I scored a small lake of the well regarded SW97 in owcs (dozens) - PM me if interested in a case..

uncle tom wrote: ↑16:33 Thu 16 Jul 2020 Bonhams sale today ran out of steam towards the end..

I scored a small lake of the well regarded SW97 in owcs (dozens) - PM me if interested in a case..

Darn good VP. Well done!

just bought a couple of bottles of Calem 85 and 2011 from Tony

3 bottles of G77. Worked out £90 all in per bottle, which I think isn’t bad.

nac wrote:3 bottles of G77. Worked out £90 all in per bottle, which I think isn’t bad.

Very good price, on this side of pond anyways.

6bts of 91 Vargellas
12bts of 70 Gonzalez Byass

Might dispose of a couple of bottles of each. Let me know if interested.

12bts of 70 Gonzalez Byass

A very good QV wine - I bought a 12 bottle owc if it way back in 2005 from Sothebys, for a princely £197.01 inclusive.

At auction last year it made over three times that - but still good value..

I have to say around 2005/2006 was an amazing time to buy vintage port there were some amazing bargains!

uncle tom wrote: ↑14:11 Thu 13 Aug 2020

12bts of 70 Gonzalez Byass

A very good QV wine - I bought a 12 bottle owc if it way back in 2005 from Sothebys, for a princely £197.01 inclusive.

At auction last year it made over three times that - but still good value..

£525 all inclusive, from BidForWine.

Not arrived yet, but from pictures looked pretty good and was in OWC.

Clearly some 15 year price inflation, but probably a good deal (I hope)!

A bit cheaper than the auction price I clocked last year.

In style and quality terms, this wine is easily mistakable for the Taylor - yet compare the price!

After selling almost all the lots of claret, rioja, port etc. I bought a couple of mixed lots.
Dow 63 1 Irish Bottled (White’s if Limerick, a new one on me) three rare sherries and a 1920’s Domecq Brandy
Boa Vista 62, unknown 47 (looks identical to some Novals I bought years ago), 20 year old Setúbal, 1930’s Curtis Sloe Gin two bottles of 1970 12 year old single malt Knockandi (only 2/3rd’s full) a bottyof Duff Gordon El CID sherry and a few other bottles. The most unusual mixed lot I ever came across

Christopher wrote: ↑18:18 Thu 13 Aug 2020 I have to say around 2005/2006 was an amazing time to buy vintage port there were some amazing bargains!

I remember it well. My first serious Vintage Port purchase was in 2006:

• 6 bottles of Dow 1963;
• 6 bottles of Warre 1966;
• 2 bottles each of Sandeman 1963, 1966 and 1970;
• 1 magnum of Fonseca 1920;
• 1 bottle of unknown 1890;
• 2 bottles of White's of Leicester 1873.

All delivered personally and free of charge by the wine merchant for an average price of £40 per bottle.

Many of those bottles were shared with great friends here. Only one remains in my wine fridge.

6 bottles of 1998 ChAA for a bargain 32E [£29] a bottle from Garrafeira Nacional. Their ports seem to be 20% off at the moment.

7 x 1977 Gould Campbell in magnum
5 x 1985 Gould Campbell in 750

All at good prices, particularly the magnums. These were $235 which was less than 2x the price of a 750 (those are ~$140 in the US).

7 magnums of GC 77 suggest the party will be at yours this year...

Two decades ago, when I had deep insight into the Gentlemens' Clubs' cellars of London, GC 77 was the house port at Boodle's. In the end I think they decided it needed more time and went back to the Taylor '70 instead... (Boodle's is a remarkable place. I suspect there's always a port house representative on the, truly expert, wine committee. Their port stocks were bigger than Uncle Tom's.)

7 x 1977 Gould Campbell in magnum

I have Dow, Graham, Smith Woodhouse and Warre '77 in magnum format - don't think I've ever seen the GC '77 in a mag though..

One bottle of Quinta de la Rosa 1988.

Also, first visit to a Sainsbury’s in months and finally managed to pick up a couple of bottles of the Taste the Difference 2000.

Recent auction acquisition...


Has anyone seen or tasted before, or know anything about it?

Do you think the guarantee is still valid?

[Edit: sorry- missed the question!

“Old Port” usually means a tawny of some description and I wonder if it might be a better quality one considering the addition of the word “choice”. I wonder if the three stars were a Fonseca logo during this period or, instead, the brand mark of this particular Port?

]

A case of Gould Campbell 1985, all levels BN or better, £521 delivered, an auction purchase from Sylvie's in Belgium. I'm pleased as it's become harder to find in the UK in recent years.

Today I took delivery of 6 bottles of 2018 Barros (thanks to PCM for the heads up), a few bottles of the Niepoort 2015 LBV and a bottle of Noval 10 YO tawny all from Garrafeira Nacional in their 20% off sale. I couldn't believe the price of the 2018 Barros at less than £22 a bottle, now I'm torn as to whether to try one while it's young...

rich_n wrote: ↑11:33 Thu 10 Sep 2020 Today I took delivery of 6 bottles of 2018 Barros (thanks to PCM for the heads up) from Garrafeira Nacional in their 20% off sale. I couldn't believe the price of the 2018 Barros at less than £22 a bottle, now I'm torn as to whether to try one while it's young...

Funny, I got my order from GN today as well, including a couple of bottles Barros VP '18! If I were you I would give in and try one (and write a tasting note ofcourse ). Enjoy!!

Six bottles of Quinta de la Rosa 2015. Currently on special offer (£25) at Waitrose Cellar.

I do hope you like the Barros 2018. Please do say what you think of it. I was extremely impressed.

AHB wrote: ↑19:35 Mon 14 Sep 2020 I do hope you like the Barros 2018. Please do say what you think of it. I was extremely impressed.

As I have only 2 bottles of Barros VP '18 it's unlikely to open one soon, but I hope that rich_n (with 6 bottles) will crack one open and report back!

QH97, of which I have a 'spare' case for sale if anyone is interested (e-mailed or PM me).

AHB wrote:I do hope you like the Barros 2018. Please do say what you think of it. I was extremely impressed.

A bottle of the Barros 2018 was opened this weekend to drink with friends and celebrate a birthday and it went down very well, a luscious and fruity young VP. Thanks for the recommendation Alex! I shall post a tasting note soon.

a Tappit Hen of Warre's 1977

Making a concerted effort to reduce storage costs by making space in my cellar and having stuff delivered.

Various Port arrived today from C&B, including...
Normal size bottles of W77 included for scale purposes.

Impressive bottle, although the fill level looks really mean..

6 x Dow '94
2 x Warre '77

uncle tom wrote: ↑12:01 Wed 07 Oct 2020 Impressive bottle, although the fill level looks really mean..

I'd wondered about this as well. Think I'll get C&B to ask Symingtons for an opinion.

nac wrote:

uncle tom wrote: ↑12:01 Wed 07 Oct 2020 Impressive bottle, although the fill level looks really mean..

I'd wondered about this as well. Think I'll get C&B to ask Symingtons for an opinion.

It’s normal, They’re all filled like that. Even the 20 yr Graham’s Jeroboams are filled the same.

Andy Velebil wrote: ↑13:55 Wed 07 Oct 2020

nac wrote:

uncle tom wrote: ↑12:01 Wed 07 Oct 2020 Impressive bottle, although the fill level looks really mean..

I'd wondered about this as well. Think I'll get C&B to ask Symingtons for an opinion.

It’s normal, They’re all filled like that. Even the 20 yr Graham’s Jeroboams are filled the same.

You're right. Just checked on my 450cl of the 10yr and it's the same level.
Does look a bit "mean" though.