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I came across seven worse for wear bottles of Offley at auction recently. They intrigued me greatly and I won them at a fair price. Well, after about 3 weeks sitting in my collection I caved and had to try one.
These bottles are Offley Forrester Boa Vista Old in Wood Very Finest Old Port (quite the label). Looking at records, the forrester part of the name was used in the early 1900's and the lack of sello would suggest it is mid century bottling?
I cracked one open with a pair of tongs to preserve the cork, however, all was in vain as there is no inscription on the cork!
As for tasting: Slow legs on the swirl, Lots of green apple on the nose and first taste, with a smooth mouth feel, followed by apricot, slight caramels and soft woods.
Very comparible to some 40 year old tawny ports.
Has anyone come across one of these bottlings before? Can anyone confirm a bit more info perhaps? Would love to know your thoughts. I will endeavor to save one for a tasting next year!

JDF

One has to be careful of applying today’s labeling terms to these old bottles. Odds are it was a more basic or mid level Tawny. Color would indicate past its best days.

You might be able to get some clues as to when the wine was bottled from the bottle itself, but from your picture of the label, I’m guessing it was bottled in the 1970s.

“Very old” in those days was broadly similar to a 20YO today. Don’t be too put off by the pale colour. I have a 30YO Port open at the moment which was bottled last year and looks very similar!

Oh no, not put off at all, it's a beautiful example. Similar to some 40 y.o tawny i sampled. The bottle is a moulded style, two seems up opposite sides, stopping half an inch from the mouth, with a third seem running around the base. The base its self is completely smooth, no markings, just the bordeaux style recess. I searched for info relating to wine bottle dating but everything i've found ends up being american. Has anyone recorded data for port bottles?