ThePortForum.com

Hi folks, new member here

I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of a firm called WH Chaplin. My gran recently gave me a bottle of ruby port which she claims is around 60 years old. It belonged to my great Uncle who died in 1951 and she has given it to me for inclusion in my drinks cabinet, more as a curiosity than for enjoying.

The name on the label is WH Chaplin's Concord Ruby Port, but despite extensive searching on the internet I have not been able to find out anything about the firm or this particular drink

I was just wondering if anyone would be able to give me some background to this bottle as it would be nice to tell people about it

thanks

tarff26 wrote:Hi folks, new member here

I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of a firm called WH Chaplin. My gran recently gave me a bottle of ruby port which she claims is around 60 years old. It belonged to my great Uncle who died in 1951 and she has given it to me for inclusion in my drinks cabinet, more as a curiosity than for enjoying.

The name on the label is WH Chaplin's Concord Ruby Port, but despite extensive searching on the internet I have not been able to find out anything about the firm or this particular drink

I was just wondering if anyone would be able to give me some background to this bottle as it would be nice to tell people about it

thanks

welcome to the boards.

Interesting bottle, I think W & H Chaplin and Co Ltd is a british wine house that dealt in Bordeaux wines looking at google.

But seeing that it's a Concord grape, it should decidedly be an American product.

Would be a guess, but since it's shipper bottled, they probably bought a bunch of concord port wine from somewhere in the states and relabeled it under their name.

cheers for the info g-man

it would be handy if there was more info on the label or bottle but seeing as it's possible pre-war that's asking a little bit much

don't think it'll be getting cracked open anytime soon

g-man wrote:But seeing that it's a Concord grape, it should decidedly be an American product.

Would be a guess, but since it's shipper bottled, they probably bought a bunch of concord port wine from somewhere in the states and relabeled it under their name.

Ugh... I hope not. I choose to believe that "Concord" is a brand name on the label and not a grape designation.

Concord grapes are known to virtually all Americans (whether they realize it or not) because that is the grape used to make Welch's Grape Juice, the most iconic and likely the dominant brand of grape juice in the US. It is a fine enough grape juice when you're young, but I can't imagine making Port out of it.

Glenn E. wrote:

g-man wrote:But seeing that it's a Concord grape, it should decidedly be an American product.

Would be a guess, but since it's shipper bottled, they probably bought a bunch of concord port wine from somewhere in the states and relabeled it under their name.

Ugh... I hope not. I choose to believe that "Concord" is a brand name on the label and not a grape designation.

Concord grapes are known to virtually all Americans (whether they realize it or not) because that is the grape used to make Welch's Grape Juice, the most iconic and likely the dominant brand of grape juice in the US. It is a fine enough grape juice when you're young, but I can't imagine making Port out of it.

let's not forget that alot of jewish holy wines are made from concord grapes too.

Would be a guess, but since it's shipper bottled, they probably bought a bunch of concord port wine from somewhere in the states and relabeled it under their name.

If that is the case, it is very possible it is from Concord grapes. During that time period (60 years ago) most large American wineries were making wine using regular table grapes. From what I've read it made a terrible wine, as one would imagine.

Hi folks, new member here

I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of a firm called WH Chaplin. My gran recently gave me a bottle of ruby port which she claims is around 60 years old. It belonged to my great Uncle who died in 1951 and she has given it to me for inclusion in my drinks cabinet, more as a curiosity than for enjoying.

The name on the label is WH Chaplin's Concord Ruby Port, but despite extensive searching on the internet I have not been able to find out anything about the firm or this particular drink

I was just wondering if anyone would be able to give me some background to this bottle as it would be nice to tell people about it

Greetings, and welcome to the forum!

At the moment we have no idea where you are from - if you are from the UK, the chances of this being an American bottle are close to zero.

Could you fill out your profile a little? - We don't even know your name!

Cheers,

Tom

Glenn E. wrote:

g-man wrote:But seeing that it's a Concord grape, it should decidedly be an American product.

Would be a guess, but since it's shipper bottled, they probably bought a bunch of concord port wine from somewhere in the states and relabeled it under their name.

Ugh... I hope not. I choose to believe that "Concord" is a brand name on the label and not a grape designation.

Concord grapes are known to virtually all Americans (whether they realize it or not) because that is the grape used to make Welch's Grape Juice, the most iconic and likely the dominant brand of grape juice in the US. It is a fine enough grape juice when you're young, but I can't imagine making Port out of it.

Making port -- or even red wine -- out of it is AWFUL. I've just come back from the NY Finger Lakes and it is full of the stuff. It's this distinct sour taste that pervades every drink it touches. Great and refreshing in grape juice, but in wine it seems like a cousin of vinegar.

uncle tom wrote:At the moment we have no idea where you are from - if you are from the UK, the chances of this being an American bottle are close to zero.

I'm not as convinced as Tom that this is unlikely to be an American bottle or perhaps an English bottling of an American port. Thinking of the presumed age of the bottle, this would put the bottling right back into the immediate post-war years when the UK was bristling with American troops and there was a steady stream of ships moving goods from the US to the UK. I wonder if your Great Uncle had friends on or worked for any of the American bases in the UK? This could have been a gift to him.

Given the ready demand for all things American at the time, it would not even surprise me if this was port, made in America from Corncord grapes and shipped to the UK in bulk before being bottled and sold by WH Chaplin to an interested market.

Interesting theory Alex, but the one thing you never see in the myriad of venerable and curious bottles that crop up on the UK auction circuit, is anything old and American.

Wines more than twenty years old are rarely seen; and while you frequently encounter antique bottles of liqueurs, beer, Scotch and other British spirits; I can't recall ever seeing an ancient bottle of Bourbon.

While the occasional old bottle of Australian or South African 'port' comes to market, the only thing I've seen from the US is the odd bottle of Starboard; but none of any age.

Tom

But surely concord ruby port is an american product no?

But surely concord ruby port is an american product no?

Probably - but we still don't know which side of the pond this bottle has appeared on..

Tom

Hi again,

Thanks very much for all your suggestions. I have been out of the country for the last few weeks so apologies for not responding earlier.

uncletom - I'm from Scotland and this bottle used to belong to my great Uncle who was from Glasgow. However I believe he was in the merchant navy from after the war to his untimely death circa 1951, so the bottle couldve been purchased almost anywhere

Sorry I couldnt be of much more help in unravelling this little mystery

thanks

David

W H Chaplin was an old traditional wine merchant in Sussex, I think based in Worthing and some time of the City.
I can only assume Concord was one of their brands and nothing to do with American grape varieties...
When I first worked for Fells in the mid 1970’s Chaplin’s Port was bottled by us at our cellars under London Bridge.
Unfortunately I don't think a Ruby Port at 60 years of age will be very exciting.
Dom Symington

Dominic,

Thanks for the info on this, It's much appreciated.


For those that don't know who Dom Symington is, let me give you a very short introduction since your Admin's haven't (gotta poke a little fun at them since I last saw Derek a few days ago)

Dominic Symington is one of the family members of the Symington Family Estates. Better known to most as Dow's, Warre's, Gould Campbell, Quinta do Vesuvio, Smith Woodhouse, Graham's, etc. So it is an honor to have him stop by and lend his vast knowledge about Port.

Andy V wrote:For those that don't know who Dom Symington is, let me give you a very short introduction since your Admin's haven't (gotta poke a little fun at them since I last saw Derek a few days ago)

I leave them on their own for a couple of days and this is what happens

I'll add my welcome in here as well, great to have you here Dominic and point to the Official Welcome.

...and Julian wonders why he lost his admin rights for a couple of hours yesterday - it was BB Karma

Dom Symington wrote:W H Chaplin was an old traditional wine merchant in Sussex, I think based in Worthing and some time of the City.
I can only assume Concord was one of their brands and nothing to do with American grape varieties...
When I first worked for Fells in the mid 1970’s Chaplin’s Port was bottled by us at our cellars under London Bridge.
Unfortunately I don't think a Ruby Port at 60 years of age will be very exciting.
Dom Symington

Dominic,

Thank you for introducing some facts to this thread - the thought of someone making port with such awful grapes was too much to take!

Derek

Welcome on board Dominic!

This highlights the concern I have raised before; about the way the history of the UK bottlers is quietly being lost.

W H Chaplin is an entirely new name to me - maybe they never bottled vintage?

It would be interesting to know if the Symington archives include sales records that identify the names and locations of the bottlers who were supplied.

Tom