For The Love Of Port

I have an opportunity to purchase a large quantity of one of these but doing so will blow my port budget for the next 3 months. I have no guarentees that that whatever I don't buy will be around at the very reasonable price I am now being quoted.

The Taylor 97 is 25% cheaper and thus I could buy more if it.

If you were me, which would you buy and why?

Bob

Robert, What do you call a large quantity? If more than a case definitely
some of each, the '85 Graham is lovely and will last and the
97 Taylors a great wine for the future. If it is one or the other
I suggest the Graham's as it is older and I assume (maybe incorrectly)
that the Taylors will be more easily sourced in the future. I had the same
dilemma recently and bought the '85 Grahams and lost out on the
Taylors one month later!

Whichever you buy you will have great port.

Paul.

Basically, I can get a case of one or a case of the other, give or take.

WS has the drinking window for the Taylor '97 starting this year. I haven't had enough VP to really know if I like them young or not, but this year seems soon.

I can only give you a personal opinion but the Graham's is
not that old and I have had it recently. It is a very good and drinking suberbly. If you do a search I think you will find many positive notes on this site. It would also give you the
best idea of what a mature (but by no means old) VP is like
and it and will last. So that is what I would buy for current
drinking and to keep. I would buy the Taylors for laying down
for at least another decade. This house is renowned for long term ports
but I feel it is too young to have enough complexity and
nuances that come with age. If you eventually decide you like
younger ports there will be plenty to choose from at a later date.

I say go for the Graham's, it is older and will become more
difficult to source but as always this is just my opinion.
Even though I missed out on a good offer for a case of Taylor's
I am still pleased I bought the Graham's.

Hope this helps

Paul.

While I have not tried either one, I would likely lean towards the Taylor '97 myself.

While the G85 will be ready to drink much earlier than the T97, from what I know, 97 was a great year and from what I have read, 85 has been a fairly mediocre year. Some gems may have been produced in 85, but IIRC, most folks end up saying that the 85 has disappointed them.

I don't think you will go wrong with either one, but the above is my

Todd

Thanks for the advice, Paul and Todd. I am going to pull the trigger in the next 24 hours and will let you know what i do.

I have read about a lot of people being dissapointed with the '85s, too, but the Graham's still seems to get very good reviews if I recall correctly. But I would be interested in others opinions about this.

Bob

It would appear that there is no-one willing to open a baby Taylor (97) as I can't seem to find any TNs on the site.

There is a recent thread on Grahams 85 however.

Dunno if this will assist you in your decision, but good luck!

Todd

I opened a 1/2 of taylor 97 maybe 6 months ago.
Lovely, although mostly closed. Great promise.

Not remotely close to being ready to drink, forget about mature! I'm not touching another for 10+ years!

That said, the Grahams 85 IS drinking well, although there is no hurry to drink it up remotely.

So, you wanna start drinking now/soon? The Grahams.
For later, say starting 10-15 minimum years from now, the Taylor.

They are both great.

If you're looking for a port to enjoy in the near future go with the Grahams. If you're able to source the Taylor's for 25% less than the Grahams AND you're willing to wait until the Taylors reaches its true drinking window then I'd say that the clear choice is the Taylor's.

Thanks for the input everyone. I pulled the trigger on the Graham's '85. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I wanted some instant gratification. Something I could drink now without feeling bad about it, but still keep around for a while.

Hoping the Taylor will still be around in two months. Or maybe I'll bite the bullet and get that, too. Just can't let my wife see the credit card bill...