Interesting view on pricing. Berry Brothers & Rudd have a bottle of Scion available for a carry out price (inclusive of all taxes and duty) of £2,195 ($3,295 or €2,545).
They also have a bottle of Noval Nacional 1963 for a carry out price of £2,620 ($3,930 or €3,040).
So which - if either of them are - is best value for money?
I'm wondering what the odds are of each bottle being sound is (ie not corked, oxidized, etc). Neither is really of the kind that you could return it for a replacement, haha. I'm guessing the Scion has a very high chance of being sound, I'm wondering how much higher over the '63, and how much that factors into people's decision making when dropping $3k+.
Personally, I'd go with the Nacional, but would go with 3-4+ cases of other ports instead if given a third option.
I'd rather drink the Scion than the '63 Nacional as such an old Colheita is more novel than the Nacional '63. I have plenty of '63 vintage as it is and the jump to Nacional does not merit the expense to me today. As for an "investment"; the Nacional is less of a gamble. How will the Scion be after 15-20 years of bottle aging? Very good odds that it would be stored upright in the box. Will that be an issue?
Not having tried either bottle, this is all speculation on my part. Have had other 19th century colheita (which had plenty of life in the bottle) and '67 Nacional which is still a baby and probably will be for another 20+ years.
Moses Botbol wrote:I'd rather drink the Scion than the '63 Nacional as such an old Colheita is more novel than the Nacional '63. I have plenty of '63 vintage as it is and the jump to Nacional does not merit the expense to me today. As for an "investment"; the Nacional is less of a gamble. How will the Scion be after 15-20 years of bottle aging? Very good odds that it would be stored upright in the box. Will that be an issue?
Not having tried either bottle, this is all speculation on my part. Have had other 19th century colheita (which had plenty of life in the bottle) and '67 Nacional which is still a baby and probably will be for another 20+ years.
Total speculation here, but considering the minuscule production of both of these ports, and that people have been drinking the '63 for 45+ years, I'm guessing its easier to get your hands on a bottle of Scion at this point than a bottle of the Nacional. Great point about other like options though, Moses, hasn't thought about that.