For The Love Of Port

What strategies do folks employ when choosing how much of which Vintage Port to buy, and in what size? It's much harder than with normal wine because port is so long lived -- I have no idea what my life and wine drinking habits will be like in 20-40 years.

Do people typically buy 375s or 750s?

Thanks,
Rourke

I usually buy 750's. I would buy 375's, however, because they are very hard to find I rarely buy them.

In terms of VP's, I buy new stuff now to hold for those retirement years (20-30) and older stuff for drinking now. Declared VP's I keep for special occassions and mainly LBV's and Single Quinta stuff for my regular drinking pleasure. I will add that Tawneys are always a staple to the diet too

A good question, if only because I keep changing my mind..

At the moment, big name mature wine from the eighties is excellent value. Everything made after 1994 seems overpriced.

I used to purchase no less than half cases of 750ml bottles of Vintage Port for each producer... But as Uncle Tom so correctly pointed out the prices are insane now. At this point I can't buy more than about 4 750ml bottles of any given producer. Any wine I plan to age I'm getting 750ml bottles...else 375ml is fine. I think aging in the larger format is better, and if it means I'll be an alcoholic when I retire so be it.

--A

PS: Given the # of posts on the recent prices of port, I'd love to hear a candid view from Roy about where he thinks these prices are coming from and where they're going. Not to put you on the spot, Roy, but some of these prices are a moral outrage. :!:

Do folks generally think its a bad idea to buy 375ml bottles to age for 20+ years? With Sauternes its not uncommon for people to do this.

I recently drank my way through half a case of Dows 83 in 375 cl format and they were very nice. I also have a few bottles left of the Warre's 83 in 375 format from a case that I bought. Last time I opened one of these (about 2 years ago) it was very good.

I am a fan of half bottles. I have never taken part in a "taste-off" where the wine from a half bottle is tasted against the same wine from a full bottle so I really can't say whether they age differently in a way that my palate can spot.

I would say that if you like the convenience of a half bottle, buy them. If you have the space, you may as well buy them young and mature them.

Alex

Maybe my approach is non-standard, but I buy almost exclusively mature 750cl bottles from bonded storage in the UK through brokers like Sokolin. I've realized that here in the US the prices for port, on release, are just very inflated compared to the prices for nicely aged bottles out of the UK, and the shipping seems to be safe enough to make this viable. The only exception has been port for my kids from their birth years, and this is more for the symbolic value than for any other reason.

On the size question, I find 375's too small. Roy's 500cl suggestion is the way to go, except that it isn't possible.

So, for example, I've been drinking 83 and 85 Grahams purchased for $70 a bottle or so, including shipping. It makes no sense to spend $100 on a bottle that will need to sleep for 25 years if I can get a bottle that drinks well cheaper! And it isn't just Graham's. Taylor, Fonseca, Dow... you name it. This is a good way to buy great bottles at sensible prices.

If you don't like Sokolin, try the Chicago Wine Exchange (TCWC.com), or The Rare Wine Company (rarewineco.net). Same comments apply.

And in fact even the very best vintages, like 63 and 66 and 70 are relatively good buys when viewed this way. After all, how many of us are prepared to cellar these sorts of wines for 40 years? Isn't it worth a buck or two a year to have someone else do it for you?

I'm pretty random. I buy up when I see something that I like the look of. I like half bottles because of the convenience, especially for Vintage Port becasue it deteriorates so quickly.

Ken, I never knew that the pre-arrival prices were really inflated until now. The 2003 Fonseca I got for $80/bottle is for sale somewhere else @ $70 per bottle.

I guess being patient can pay off.

However, if I can force myself to look beyond the few extra $$ here and now I'm betting it'll seem quite amusing when the 2003 Fonseca is going for $200/bottle 20 years from now.

--A