FTLOP recommends these Vintage Ports

[Roy Hersh]

IF and WHEN, I ever go far out on a limb like this, to put my reputation on the line for an offering of Vintage Ports ... you can darn sure bet ... that I have done my homework first. At best, I might do this 3 or 4 times a year, depending on how this goes.

There is a lot to read before getting down to the offering ... and I strongly suggest you read it all before jumping to the list of 2 dozen VPs that I chose from a much longer list.

NOTE: Although I have been VERY involved in this offering, the wines are NOT from my cellar, I have not seen them or tasted from this lot and DO NOT STAND TO BENEFIT FROM THIS SALE, WHATSOEVER. Like the newsletter, the website itself, as well as this very FORUM, I have chosen to do this FOR THE LOVE OF PORT. Why, you may ask? Simple. If I can bring you the opPORTunity to buy a list of Ports like this, (this list is NOT offered anywhere else ... although individual wines can be found elsewhere of course) then it offers a great VALUE to those who frequent the Forum and this site.

Now, to the offering.
I know the owner (and his wife) of a wine shop for the past four or five years. We are wine judges together down in CA every February and I know of his shop through those that I trust implicitly. That is why I am willing to go out on a limb here. Josh Heibel is someone I like, know and trust and we've worked on this for awhile, trying to make available some fabulous old and young VPs, a few of which are older gems, for very serious Port collectors.

Some things to be aware of:
This is a limited time offering and will begin on Monday, August 15th as 12:00 p.m. EST. This allows those on the W. Coast of the USA to have the same chance of scoring the wines as it does those on the E. Coast. Unless you read differently here from ME, this sale will go for 72 hours, expiring at noon on Thursday, August 18th.

You can contact Josh Heibel or his staff at The Saratoga Wine Exchange Toll free @ 877-493-6532. He is located in Saratoga Springs, NY and has a great shop. He is resourceful and there are few wines in the world he can not obtain. That said, he has reduced his normal pricing on these wines to attract the FTLOP community. I have seen his pricing and know that I have sufficiently sqeezed prices as far as possible. In some cases, the prices can not be matched anywhere in the USA. In others, you can find the same wines for less at auction but provenance is questionable and in some offering there (on winesearcher.com) they even mention "past signs of seepage." Josh has secured these VPs direct from a VERY reliable Port source (tried & true).

There are prices that may possibly be beat by one or sometimes two retailers, but again this is just a couple of the wines offered here and given the known provenance of these wines ... I believe that a couple of dollars is not a big deal, and the service you'll receive is par excellence! For those in Canada, Josh is about 3 hours from Montreal and those buying from the SAQ will love this. Make the drive down and pick up a couple of cases. In the worst case scenario, you should only have to pay duty. If I am wrong here, well then chalk it up to Yankee inexperience. I do think this is something you can figure out by talking to Josh.
Each wine below is offered on a PRE-SALE basis. Some are already in stock, some are going to arrive as soon as the weather makes it feasible to ship. There are LARGE quantitities being made available on some of these wines, but I can tell you that this is on a "first come, first served" basis ... and all offers for prices and availability are legit.
All major credit cards can be used. The charge will not be made until the order is confirmed, meaning that the quantity and specific wine you order will be sold to you after you are contacted by Josh or one of his managers to confirm the order. This will eliminate the guess work!
From Josh: "In Stock means just that. Late September means they will arrive to me, late in September. Future arrival means that they are available, but they have not yet been put on a container and will take 8-12 weeks to arrive from time of ordering."

So unless you purchase a wine that is already in stock, realize that you are not going to receive the wine prior to the weather cooling off ... which should work out just fine and Josh will hold any and all VPs until the weather is perfect. So don't plan on these wines for a tasting in a week or two. But, you will be very happy to see these arrive in excellent condition.

An added secure feeling for customers: prior to shipping and after arrival in the store, digital pictures can be emailed to the customer, if requested. This is comforting when buying the 1948 Fonseca.

Caveat: If Josh feels the bottle is in appropriate condition for the age (he'll send you pictures to confirm) and the person just cancels the order after arrival, there will be a 10% restocking fee and that person will be excluded from future offers from his shop.
Also, they will only ship wines "ground" under appropriate temperature conditions. Josh uses DHL, from what I understand, to ship all wines. Ground is much cheaper, but I will leave those details between customer and retailer.

Again, this is just one small way to thank you all for your participation on what is quickly becoming the best Port website out there.

Good luck to those of you that are interested, in obtaining the wines and quantities of your Port preference! Although I recommend these Ports and Josh as a retailer of impeccable credentials and someone that I know, I urge you to ask questions of any type when you ask for him or speak to one of his staff. Should you have any quibble about anything involving this offering, please do take it up directly with Josh and I am sure he will be more than fair. Otherwise, my involvement ends with this posting!


$79.50 1983 Cockburn late september
$142.50 1963 Croft in stock
$100.00 1977 Dow late september
$175.00 1977 1.5L Dow in stock
$63.00 1983 Dow Future Arrival
$925.00 1948 Fonseca in stock
$499.00 1955 Fonseca Future Arrival
$340.00 1970 1.5L Fonseca Late August
$185.00 1977 Fonseca in stock
$79.50 1985 Fonseca Late August
$975.00 1945 Graham Future Arrival
$1,099.00 1948 Graham Future Arrival
$425.00 1955 Graham Future Arrival
$145.00 1970 Graham in stock
$85.00 1985 Graham Future Arrival
$155.00 1963 Q do Noval late september
$397.90 1985 Nacional late september
$895.00 1948 Taylor in stock
$279.00 1963 Taylor late september
$165.00 1970 Taylor Future Arrival
$139.00 1977 Taylor in stock
$165.03 1963 Sandeman Future Arrival
$79.50 1977 Warre's in stock
$159.00 1977 1.5L Warre's in stock

[David Spriggs]

Thanks Roy! These are some of the best prices for these ports. Some of them are the lowest prices available in the US. With good provenance, this is a no-brainer!

-Dave-

[Frederick Blais]

Wow very nice selection! Indeed very interesting for those who are stuck buying at the SAQ :) Thanks a lot!

I've send you an email Roy.

Edit : disregard my email Roy, I've got my answer by reading the thread a second time tonight

[Roy Hersh]

Thanks guys. I am happy to see that over 50 people have at least read about this offering. It has something for everybody. Some reasonably priced younger wines that are fabulous, some harder to find wines from the '60s and '70s at prices that are competitive and then some very hard to find (in great condition) old collectiible bottles for the collector that is looking for a special bottle. I hope some of you are taking advantage here. Even the Canadians on the E. coast have a chance for some awesome deals (especially vs. what they pay up there!). If this works for you all, maybe we'll do this quarterly.

[Roy Hersh]

Reports from Josh are that the sales are picking up and there are still two days left. I hope you'll be able to lock in, in time. Good luck!

[Roy Hersh]

Oh by the way, pre-release 2003 offering from Josh to add to the list. This is for those that like to complain about the prices of the 2003 young VPs. Try to beat this screaming deal on a very solid player:

2003 Gould Campbell – displaying delightful scents of plum with a smoky and roasted note. The GC offers a viscous and powerful wine with semi-sweet, blackberry and currant fruit along with a hint of vanilla and licorice. It is a boisterous, intense young Port with monstrous mouth puckering tannins and a lingering aftertaste that would be better had it not shown so much alcohol. This Vintage Port should improve for two to three decades. 2,400 cases produced. 92 points

SEE ABOVE AND CALL JOSH TO GRAB THE GOULD @ $39.99. CHEAPEST IN AMERICA? REGARDLESS, THIS IS ONE SCREAMING DEAL WHEN MOST OF THE 2003S ARE BETWEEN THE MID-$50s to .....

[Roy Hersh]

So, did anybody grab anything fun?

[D. Pirmann]

Hello Roy,

Thanks for putting together this offer. I am pretty new to the vintage port world, not usually buying it to keep at home, for three reasons really; the bottle needs to be consumed quickly, vintage ports are pricey, and I don't have any truly mature ports in my "cellar". So this sale was a good opportunity to get my hands on some ready to drink vintages. I selected:

the '63 Croft
the '70 Graham
the '77 Taylor
the '77 Dow
the '83 Dow
the '85 Fonseca

I thought that would give me a good cross-section of the different producers and vintages and not put too big a dent in the checkbook!

Thanks
Dave
[/quote]

[Frederick Blais]

Ordered some

2x Taylor 77
1x Graham 70
1x Fonseca 85

I'm crossing my fingers for the next steps

[Roy Hersh]

David and Fred,

I know others also "bought in" on this deal. Some fine Ports and good provenance. How did you find the customer service and follow up?

I want to make sure that Josh took care of business for you guys and otherwise, only have his side of the story! Thanks!

[Frederick Blais]

Great service so far, I should close the sale tomorrow as all my bottles are available.

Thanks Roy!