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Hi - this is my first post so I hope it's in the correct place.

I've come across 4 cases of 1970 Da Silva's port. I have all the documentation for it ranging back to its original purchase and import from Da Silva in 1972. It's currently in Ireland.

The boxes it was shipped in are largely disintegrated and the labels are dusty and soiled. All corks and seals are intact. It has been stored in a cellar since purchase to my knowledge.

What on earth does one do with this much port? I'm completely clueless as to how to go about selling it or who to approach.

Your post is absolutely in the right place - we're happy to try to help.

"...come across..." is an interesting choice of phrase. Most enquiries here relate to someone who has inherited or been given some port and doesn't want it any more, but that seems to be slightly different from your situation.

The easiest way to sell the port would be through a private sale. You might well be able to find a buyer for some of the port through this website - you can invite offers for part or all of the stock by private message, although you might have to get the port into England to get the best price as we only have one or two members in Ireland.

If you don't want to go to the trouble of arranging the transport of the wine from Ireland to England, there are a couple of auction houses in Ireland who would be able to include these bottles in their next wine sale - I think they run 1 or 2 per year.

In terms of price, I would think that if you asked for £20 for these bottles you would sell them relatively easily. If you asked £25 you might find it more difficult, but this is purely my opinion and is not based on anything in particular.

It's not inherited - its from my late grandfathers estate but belongs to my grandmother. We found it while clearing the estate for sale and my grandmother has no attachment to it (or knew of its existence until we located it!). It was stored with a folder of full provenance including duty receipts, storage fee receipts and original shipping documents.

Is importing it from Ireland to England a major job? I'd imagine there must be duty or some form of tax payable?

Provided you're moving the bottles from Ireland to the UK for private consumption rather than for a commercial venture, I don't think there is any duty or VAT to pay - you've already paid all of that in Ireland (or at least your grandfather did back in 1972). It's not likely to be any more difficult than putting the bottles in the boot of a car - but it's a case of finding someone who is driving from Ireland to England who would be willing to do this for you.

Someone could bring them into the UK on a flight, but Michael O'Leary charges more for 20kg of hold luggage than HMRC would charge in duty

You could try Berry Brothers & Rudd in Dublin. Ask them if it is possible to put the cases into their storage facility and then have them transferred to their UK storage facility whilst still under your ownership. You could then sell them privately in the UK and have them delivered to the buyer. I have no idea if this is possible but BBR will know.

Whereabouts in Ireland is it (asks someone in Ireland)?

Dublin, currently

Miesque wrote:Dublin, currently

I wonder whether (for instance) Mitchell & Son, or a similar dealer (there are very few who deal vintage port, as opposed to basic rubies and so on) might take one case off your hands. Seems the recent reviews mostly say that this wine could be past its peak. Berry Bros don't have an actual cellar in Dublin from what I understand - they ship from England, I think.. I imagine they'd charge you a good bit to deal this. Ross's Auctions in Belfast might be a good future venue. And I might be interested in a few bottles, or even half a case, if you are willing to sell them by the part-case (I'm based in Belfast but in Dublin pretty often).

My parents do live in Ireland and I was born in 1970, which could be a nice match. Please pm me or write me an email to axelprobst@worldofport.com with your pricing ideas.

Axel

Suprised no has offered £875 cash for the whole thing

Axel P wrote:My parents do live in Ireland and I was born in 1970, which could be a nice match. Please pm me or write me an email to axelprobst@worldofport.com with your pricing ideas.

Axel

Sorry, I've been away on business - I'll get in contact with you asap

Please send a PM when you've a moment, if you have a price in mind perhaps I can find a good home for some of this in Belfast..