Filling in bottles in collection

[Roy Hersh]

Not what you are expecting. I am speaking about wine bottles for the "wall of Port fame" that I know lots of people have in their homes. What decides if the bottle is worthy of your space? I think it would be fun to include these photos in PORTraits next week. But for now, it would be great to learn why an empty Port bottle makes it into your permanent display. Last but definitely not least, how about a list of the bottles in your display area. That would be a great start, until we can upload the photos.

Please do me a favor and do NOT uploade your photos to the Forum for this particular subject. Thanks!

I hope you get your wish for a display shelf for your prized Port bottles Derek. Is it a space issue or a matter of having to actually build the shelf?

At least you now have a place that you can keep a photographic record of each bottle, if you want to take the time to upload them ... with a fun caption about where and when they were consumed and with whom. I have a few thousand Port/Madeira/Douro digi-pics but don't want to hog PORTraits and will add them slowly over the next few months as others populate it as well.

[Scott Anaya]

So most of the bottles (but not all) make the display kinda spur of the moment, as i just fill in empty shelf space on my daily drinking wine rack in the dining room, or a living room shelf, or along the wall in my cellar. They were drunk on a special occassion with great company and often I just rinsed and put the bottles up when I was a bit toasty to commemorate the evening. Most of my top VP experiences for some reason or another are not represented since at some point i stopped putting up bottles since how many bland paper label bottles does it take to look like a recycling pile?

Now it takes an unusually unique looking bottle, a really old and great Port, or something unique catches me to put it up.
My current bottles are;

'55 Taylor-----Impressed some Alaskan wine lovers many Christmas's ago, created a port fanatic friend
'60 Cockburn--not sure why this is up,,,wait, first bottle i port tonged!
1897 Byass----my oldest VP (pretty darn good showing)
'37 Rocha 1/2 btl--one of the older Colheita's i've had
'66 Rocha------my first Colheita
'80 Krohn-------not sure why this is up
1900 D'Oliveiras Moscatel--------My first Madeira outside of 5-10-15 yr ones
1907 Blandy Bual--------guess cause it is old as this was corked
1900 Justino's Madeira--stout whicker basket bottle
Brown Brothers little "p" port from Australia in cool ceramic jug btl

[Derek T.]

I don't have a display rack in the house I live in now but plan to one day. My garage has a number of cardboard wine boxes full of empty VP bottles waiting on a shelf to stand on. I tend to keep bottles from tasting events and special occassions as well as anything which I consider to be old (1960's and before).

The oldest empty bottle I have is from 1873 and the neck stands at an angle which resembles the Leaning Tower of Pizza.

I still have many of the bottles from the 1st ever FTLOP Off-line in London

Derek

[Roy Hersh]

Funny thing, all of the photos that revolve at the top of the new website, came from pics I took on recent Tours ... except for the great photo of our first offline in London which was a tremendous time, with great wines and a chance for lots of us to meet for the very first time. I hope you and others at the table noticed this tiny memory of that glorious day!

[Andy Velebil]

I'm sure more people have empty bottles laying around, I know I do! Here is a list of some of them and the memories behind them..

1966 Taylors - My very first VP and what got me started into Port.
1945 Morgan - Alex brought this to share with Stewart and I in the Pre-Roy's 50th b-day party. At that time, it was the oldest VP I had had.
1963 Quinta do Noval Nacional - With sediment and about 1 ounce of juice left...From the 2006 Harvest Trip where my Nacional virginity was forever lost. I put a t cork in it, carried it back from Portugal, got jammed up by the Airport Secuity (TSA), and made it home. Did I mention I fished this out of the kitchen trash can after dinner
1940 Niepoort Garrafeira - My first time in Boston and Sean opened this excellant bottle for Moses and I.
1970 Dow's Magnum - This was a gift from Rupert Symington for the Harvest Trip 2006 participants, for after dinner when we left Vesuvio. My very first magnum. And I thought hand carrying the Nacional back was hard.
1967 Taylors Vargellas - I keep this one as I removed the neck with tongs, the cork is till in the neck, and the wax seal is still fully intacted and embossed. A great teaching tool about tonging.

I've got many more..

[Glenn E.]

My wife and I keep various bottles along the top of our kitchen cabinets. We started out just keeping any bottle that looked cool, but eventually switched over to keeping memorable bottles. I still have the first bottle of Port I was given - a 375 of Porto Rocha 20-yr old. My first Colheita (Porto Rocha 1977) is up there, as is my first VP (1983 Warre's).

We also have the bottle of wine from our 20th anniversary at the Jules Verne restaurant in the Eiffel Tower and the magnum of Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the 2nd party we had with our friends and relatives once we returned from our trip.

We don't really have anything seriously collectable yet, but that will change!

[Al B.]

I moved home in June last year and lost the display space that I used to have for old bottles. The bottles that used to be on display were carefully packed and are in boxes in the corner of the garage, ready to be put back out once our building work (which will include a display shelf!) has been completed next year.

Included in the bottles are a variety of ports from 1963 (the birth year my wife and I share) including the Nacional. Also in there is a bottle from each year of Vesuvio since 1989, a bottle of 1937 Burmester Colheita (the first "old" port I ever drank - old being defined as older than I am), a bottle of 1979 Malvedos (the first bottle of vintage port I ever drank in VndG) and a variety of other bottles.

Right now, the only bottle on display is in my study and is the 1815 Royal Oporto. The joint oldest port that I have drunk.

Alex

[Moses Botbol]

All bottles are photographed in a light box, I stopped saving bottles

[Andy Velebil]

All bottles are photographed in a light box, I stopped saving bottles

Moses,

I know space always is an issue, but pictures just arn't the same as a cool old bottle sitting on a shelf.

[Moses Botbol]

All bottles are photographed in a light box, I stopped saving bottles

Moses,

I know space always is an issue, but pictures just arn't the same as a cool old bottle sitting on a shelf.

Indeed. The space the bottle takes up can cost more than the bottle in my fair city . I soak the lablels off and keep the tonged necks with the cork in them. I have about twenty I was going to crack to view the corks, but haven't got around to it.

[Todd Pettinger]

All bottles are photographed in a light box, I stopped saving bottles

Moses,

I know space always is an issue, but pictures just arn't the same as a cool old bottle sitting on a shelf.

Indeed. The space the bottle takes up can cost more than the bottle in my fair city . I soak the lablels off and keep the tonged necks with the cork in them. I have about twenty I was going to crack to view the corks, but haven't got around to it.

Hopefully buried somewhere in that collection of tonged necks/corks is a 1977 Smith Woodhouse, which was cooked and disappointing in the great company it was consumed with, but at least not as horrible as it COULD have been based on the fact I bought that one from one of two stores that are not exactly known for keeping fine wine storage in the forefront of their priorities. (not to mention it had flown several days prior and then rolled around in the trunk of the rental car because I wasn't exactly sure about Mass. laws regarding alcohol in the backseat... cap or no cap! )

[Moses Botbol]

Hopefully buried somewhere in that collection of tonged necks/corks is a 1977 Smith Woodhouse, which was cooked and disappointing in the great company it was consumed with, but at least not as horrible as it COULD have been

It was a little baked, but hardly as disappointing as you describe.