For The Love Of Port

This is a silly little thing, but Mahmoud asked about it in another post. Port bottles are so dark that it used to be hard to check the fill level on old bottles, but it's become a lot easier in recent years with LED torches. I buy these cheapies on ebay (no affiliation whatsoever to the seller) and their super bright LED shows up the fill level easily (I have to be a bit careful not to blind myself :)). They're also on my keychain, so I can use them when I'm out and about or in the cellar.

I find the light on my iPhone works really well too. Love paraphernalia! :)

Ooh, good thinking. I'll borrow my partner's whenever I need it - Thanks.

I have something almost identical to those and it works great.


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I've been using LED torches for several years now, but there are still plenty of bottles that are too dark to see, especially from the mid eighties.

The only solution for these bottles is to weigh them - most (but not all) modern bottles have a very consistant dry weight. By checking the weights, you can pick out the most ullaged bottles from a stash for early consumption.

Given the importance of levels in the market for fine old wines, I sometimes wonder what planet the producers were on when they bought into the idea of opaque black glass for VP.

Fortunately, most have now seen the error of their ways..

Tom Archer wrote:The only solution for these bottles is to weigh them - most (but not all) modern bottles have a very consistant dry weight. By checking the weights, you can pick out the most ullaged bottles from a stash for early consumption.

While I recognize that this really is a pretty good solution to discovering the ullage in a port bottle I have to say that this has to be the ultimate wine geekdom practice I have ever heard of.

Tom Archer wrote:Given the importance of levels in the market for fine old wines, I sometimes wonder what planet the producers were on when they bought into the idea of opaque black glass for VP.

Lets see - light affects wine - port needs to be cellared for long periods of time - dark glass keeps light out - put port in dark bottles. Sounds like port producers were on planet earth.

Mahmoud.

this has to be the ultimate wine geekdom practice I have ever heard of.

Guilty as charged - I now keep weight records of all my port bottles - it's more interesting and revealing than you might think..

Lets see - light affects wine - port needs to be cellared for long periods of time - dark glass keeps light out - put port in dark bottles.

Same goes for claret but you never see a really dark claret bottle, let alone an opaque one.

- Just keep wine in a dark place..

Tom Archer wrote:

this has to be the ultimate wine geekdom practice I have ever heard of.

Guilty as charged - I now keep weight records of all my port bottles - it's more interesting and revealing than you might think..

Well, maybe - but you realize I would never be able to tell my friends and family about it.

So do you use a digital kitchen scale? And is there a standard bottle weight variation that one has to take account of - asked one wine geek of the other.

Mahmoud.

Tom Archer wrote:... most (but not all) modern bottles have a very consistant dry weight.

What do you consider to be modern? I've seen inconsistencies in 1970 bottles when bottling wasn't limited to the producers in Oporto. Would you suggest that as the cutoff?

So do you use a digital kitchen scale? And is there a standard bottle weight variation that one has to take account of - asked one wine geek of the other.

I use a laboratory balance that weighs to 3Kg with an accuracy of 0.1g

I also calibrate it against a 1400g check weight (a sealed bottle containing glass marbles)

What do you consider to be modern? I've seen inconsistencies in 1970 bottles when bottling wasn't limited to the producers in Oporto. Would you suggest that as the cutoff?

This is one of the things that make it interesting. I have English bottled bottles of 1963 VP that are all within a fraction of a gram of each other, but also Symington bottles from 1977 that are all over the show - clearly made with old machinery.

I also have one case of T83 that all look alike, and have similar good levels, but one bottle is 25g heavier than all the others, which makes me suspect there were two production runs for the bottles, possibly resulting from a decision to increase the amount of VP to be bottled after the original bottle order had been placed.

The weight of glass in bottles has been steadily falling over the last 130 years or so, and by weighing a bottle that was sold as a 1904 VP (by a major London auctioneer) I was recently able to prove that it was a much later bottled colheita (the glass colour and quality also gave it away..)

Tom Archer wrote:I've been using LED torches for several years now, but there are still plenty of bottles that are too dark to see, especially from the mid eighties.

It's worth noting that not all LED torches are the same. I have a Fenix LD10 which I bought several years ago which I use for checking fill levels; In several years have only encountered one bottle for which I could not tell the fill level using it; usually it is no problem to check the fill level, even for very dark glass and when there is muck and grim, and often where others could not.

Tom's bottle-weight experiments are fascinating, however.

I have a Fenix LD10 which I bought several years ago which I use for checking fill levels; In several years have only encountered one bottle for which I could not tell the fill level using it

Phil - next time you're round, bring it along and we'll try it. I did some experiments with intense light sources some years ago, but without success..

Tom Archer wrote:

I have a Fenix LD10 which I bought several years ago which I use for checking fill levels; In several years have only encountered one bottle for which I could not tell the fill level using it

Phil - next time you're round, bring it along and we'll try it. I did some experiments with intense light sources some years ago, but without success..

Sure; I could bring the camera at the same time, in case you wanted any N31 pics at the same time, depending on background. Some time next week might well work; will PM/email you.