ThePortForum.com

Hi guys,

I'm trying to work out what to do/get for my Dad's birthday in the new year, and I'm considering a port evening for him and a few of his port-liking friends...I'm trying to find some lovely vintage port that can be enjoyed RIGHT NOW, none of this waiting around nonsense

I'm so far looking at Warres 1963, Taylor 1985 and Taylor 1992....(maybe from vintagewinegifts) constructive advice extremely welcome!

(If I could find a 1945 Taylor - his birth year - I'd possibly consider paying the insane price because he always goes on about how he bought his Dad some on his 21st), if I could be certain it wouldn't be full of fungus/bacterial!!??)

Thanks

Welcome to

Of the ports that you have listed I think the only one I would suggest you miss out is the Taylor 1992 as it is not anywhere close to being ready to drink yet.

If there are a few mouths to feed at this event perhaps a 1970 horizontal would work well - Cockburn, Croft, Dow, Fonseca, Graham, Taylor & Warre are all drinking fabulously well and are widely available.

I would suggest you go to a traditional wine merchant rather than vintagewinegifts. The latter has a business model based on those who wish to buy one trophy bottle in a silk-lined box for a special gift. You would pay dearly for the privilege, particularly if you intend buying multiple bottles.

Wylie Fine Wines are very good and provide detailed descriptions of bottle condition to help you avoid buying duff bottles.

The Taylor 1948 is a wonderful idea but at that age you really are rolling the dice when buying a single bottle. Storage and the integrity of the seal on these old wines can be a problem so you have to be prepared to take the risk that it will not be the best use of £600. That said most bottles of that age that I have tasted have been fabulous.

Best of luck.

So he's a 1945 baby, but 45s are extremely pricey as it's such a good vintage and there isn't very much of it about now. I wouldn't advise paying £500 or £600 for a bottle if you don't really know what you're getting or you aren't really sure what to look for yourself!

Port is a fairly predictably marketed thing. Anything from a year ending in 5 is going to cost a lot more now than it would last year just because of the birthday trade. Why not buy something good and dependable and fairly old, but not really really venerable? The Warre 63 would be lovely. What about 1970s? Taylor, Graham, Warre, Croft are all very reliable. In many ways 1970 is the last great vintage before a lot of upheavals transformed the industry for a long time. It didn't really settle down until the late 90s.

If you look on Winesearcher.com you'll find suppliers near you hopefully. Let us know how you get on!

Our posts crossed but Daniel and I seem to have said almost the same things

DRT wrote:Our posts crossed but Daniel and I seem to have said almost the same things

Except that I can count backwards from 70

Oops. I must check the cellar to make sure my Pipes of T45 and T48 are correctly labelled.

DRT wrote:Oops. I must check the cellar to make sure my Pipes of T45 and T48 are correctly labelled.

Thanks guys

I had read somewhere that T92 was really good as an early vintage which is why I thought it was ok!

I've found a single bottle of Warre 1963 for about £160-£180 but haven't tried really hard yet to see if that's a rip-off

I think my dad actually has a bottle of T70 stored somewhere!

If he has a T70 that he might want to open anyway, another 1970 could make a perfect accompaniment. You'll get a Fonseca for around the £100 mark and Graham, Cockburn or Croft for a bit less. Hunt around and see what you can find and what's near to you so that you can maybe take a look before you buy.

Have fun!

MWH Wine Merchants are apparently very close to me and have some of the ones you mention but I can never tell from wine lists if I'm allowed to buy single bottles haha

Just ask - with older vintages it's by no means unusual to have both available, and more of the single bottles than entire cases.

They have a bottle of Taylor's 1945 for £550 + VAT hehe I'm half-tempted

TDTD wrote:They have a bottle of Taylor's 1945 for £550 + VAT hehe I'm half-tempted

Send an email asking for "a condition report, provenance and some photographs". Then post the response and photographs here and we will help you assess the condition of the bottle.

Good idea; and see the tips on uploading photos here - it's fairly straightforward!

How many bottles in total do you plan? I'd consider magnum of something from 1985 like Graham, Fonseca, Taylor or Dow. 1970 is a sure thing for basically any brand you can get.

MWH are quite close to where I live and I've bought from them on a couple of occasions and have been very happy. If you ask, you can visit and inspect bottles before you buy (I asked and it was made quite easy to visit).

As to what you buy, I think it depends on what your Dad would enjoy most. Will he get more enjoyment out of you organising a Port Dinner for him and some of his Port-loving friends, or out of drinking a bottle of Port from his birth year? Some of us on this Board had the good fortune to be born in a decent vintage year and there is a special enjoyment to be had from drinking a wine as old as you are - do you know whether your Dad has ever drunk a 1945 Port (or other wine) before? If not, this would be a special thing for him to be able to do - but only if you think he would open it and drink it and not leave it for "a special occasion" as too many people seem to do!

For a similar cost you could buy several bottles of a top quality, mature vintage port that is at its peak of perfection now. People above have suggested 1970 - which would be a great choice - but so would 1966 or 1967. If you think your Dad would prefer a Port dinner then I would suggest allowing a bottle per person with only a minimal amount of wine with the meal and several large glasses of water to prevent ill effects the next morning.

45's are painfully expensive, but you say your dad bought some on his 21st, which would have been 1966, which is a seriously good vintage.

My cellar is slightly overweight on '66 - I could rustle up a few big name bottles for you for around £80 each.

Thanks for the further most recent replies, apologies for the delay in responding!

I'm still umming over the 1945 Taylor for £550 or just some decent port to be shared.

I'll ask as advised on here for a quality report/photo.

Thanks