ThePortForum.com

Hello my name is Niall. For my christening my aunt bought me a case of Grahams 1977 Vintage Port. These have been stored in my parents basement in NYC since. I have been cleaning out the house since my father's passing and am trying to figure out what to do with them. I have googled them and they appear to be around 125 a bottle. Is this a fair price and how would I go about selling them? Thank you in advance...

Have you opened the case to assess their condition?
Are there any signs of leakage, are any of the selo tags (the white tags that emerge from under the black capsule) showing red stains?
Have they been in the house since they were purchased, and were they stored by the furnace or somewhere cooler?
Do the labels or the wood case have waterstains?
Can you tell (with a flashlight or mobile phone light) how high the wine is in the bottle's neck (or below)?
And with that flashlight in hand, if you aim for the middle of the bottle do they look garnet/ruby red or more orange/yellow?
(these are all the kinds of things I usually check when assessing bottles, and how i usually check).

How big is the case -- 6 or 12? (usually 12, but there are a lot of half-cases out there now)

We have some info on what to expect money-wise from a private sale, here. Generally it's half retail (most folks buying aren't spending retail, and usually are angling for auction bargains. Meanwhile, retail won't pay you what they'll charge, and nor do auctions by the time they are done). There are a few of us in the NY area.

Price-wise, I see it retail at 107 and 113, and at auction for 80 & 85.

The bottles are no longer in the case and have been laying in wine rack of storage room which is in middle of basement so no heat source or sunlight, in attempt to avoid corkage. 12 bottles in total. The link you attached is where I got my valuation from, given your rational was looking around 1k USD for case. Have some photos but havent been able to upload but can email.

Hi Niall,

Graham's '77 is a lovely port from a good year. Your bottles sound like they have been stored well, so are hopefully in good condition (good levels and colour). If so, then selling privately you should normally expect to achieve roughly 50-60% of the equivalent retail from the lowest price good quality wine merchant; that price looks to be around $125/bt, so you could expect perhaps $60-75/bt, or $700-900 for the case; I'd suggest aiming at $800, providing the condition is excellent.

By chance, I'm drinking Graham '77 myself this evening, and it is a lovely port. Sadly I'm UK-based though, otherwise I'd have probably made you and offer

In the US, 1977 Graham's is available for $105 from The Chicago Wine Company and for only slightly more than that from 3 more reputable sources. So I think your $125 retail estimate is on the high side.

That said, Phil's estimate of 50-60% of retail is more appropriate in the UK than in the US. Here we seem to pay closer to 70-75%, so his end result of $60-$75 per bottle is only slightly low. I would expect you to be able to get $70-$80 per bottle in a private sale, or around $900 for the case.

It is a delicious Port. It's reputation of late has been improving - even just 5 years ago it could be hot and spicy on the palate (due to the alcohol showing more prominently than it should), which is out of character for a Graham. But that seems to have settled down and it's now typically a very lovely Port still approaching its peak.

Glenn E. wrote: ↑01:52 Wed 24 Jul 2019 In the US, 1977 Graham's is available for $105 from The Chicago Wine Company and for only slightly more than that from 3 more reputable sources. So I think your $125 retail estimate is on the high side.

That said, Phil's estimate of 50-60% of retail is more appropriate in the UK than in the US. Here we seem to pay closer to 70-75%, so his end result of $60-$75 per bottle is only slightly low. I would expect you to be able to get $70-$80 per bottle in a private sale, or around $900 for the case.

It is a delicious Port. It's reputation of late has been improving - even just 5 years ago it could be hot and spicy on the palate (due to the alcohol showing more prominently than it should), which is out of character for a Graham. But that seems to have settled down and it's now typically a very lovely Port still approaching its peak.

To add on the last part. This vintage of Graham's will never be a great one. It is and will always be on the spirity side. Granted that overt alcohol has subsided a bit in recent years but it will never be up to the level of other great years of it. That will affect the price you get, especially when coming from NYC basement where storage is not necessarily optimal.

As far as prices go. As mentioned, a private sale will net less that what retail prices are. That said, your best bet is to sale to a non-Port geek as they won't know this isn't the best vintage of Graham's and will pay higher prices.

And FYI, "Corkage" has nothing to do with storage. It is caused by a chemical compound in the cork itself that, at certain levels, causes a musty wet cardboard type smell/taste.

I agree with Andy on this, as I'm familiar with the wine and wouldn't put money on Graham 77 rather than Graham 80 or 85 (or even 83). For the right price, i'd be interested in cellar defenders (low cost port that I drink before the high cost port). All that said, it makes folks like me poor candidates when you are aiming to get the most money for it, but good candidates if you can't sell it elsewhere and want to get some money for it. Best bet is to start with a private sale to a non-port wine enthusiast who knows Graham is a good house and 1977 was a good year.

Have to disagree with you gents; I'd take G77 over any of G80/G83/G85, and by no small margin.

PhilW wrote: ↑19:10 Wed 24 Jul 2019 Have to disagree with you gents; I'd take G77 over any of G80/G83/G85, and by no small margin.

Over G85? Uh... no.

I'd slot it in the middle somewhere. It's nowhere close to as good as G85 to me, and my recent experiences with G83 have been better than my most recent experiences with G77 (which has admitted been a while).

For me, G85>G83>G77>G80, but none of them are bad, and with G77 being the most variable. I agree with Andy's assessment that G77 is not a "great" Port, but I still think it is excellent and delicious.

Glenn E. wrote: ↑20:10 Sat 10 Aug 2019

PhilW wrote: ↑19:10 Wed 24 Jul 2019 Have to disagree with you gents; I'd take G77 over any of G80/G83/G85, and by no small margin.

Over G85? Uh... no.

I'd slot it in the middle somewhere. It's nowhere close to as good as G85 to me, and my recent experiences with G83 have been better than my most recent experiences with G77 (which has admitted been a while).

For me, G85>G83>G77>G80, but none of them are bad, and with G77 being the most variable. I agree with Andy's assessment that G77 is not a "great" Port, but I still think it is excellent and delicious.

Interesting (translation: clearly wrong ), my ordering would have been G77>G85>G80>G83, though I agree that of all of them the G77 has the most variability. I would also add that while well-stored G77 is for me in a lovely place currently, that I suspect it might not be as long lived as some of its peers.