For The Love Of Port

I bid on a couple of unknown ports on the Skinner auction that was held on Oct 28. Here was the description.

Unknown Port
u: bottom neck, no label, no embossing on capsule, import labels consistent with other Feason Block bottles in this collection from the 1930s-1940s
2 bottles
Estimate $60-100

Well it did not go for the estimate I was bid up to $450 so it ended up being about $550. So when I got them it was like Christmas time opening up gifts from under the tree. They were bottom neck and the capsules had been re waxed. I was it was a green bottle so I took a bright flashlight and I was able to see the cork and some writing on it. I ended up having to clean the neck and remove the wax from the neck and I could read SECA TAGE 48 and yes it was on both bottles. As you can imagine my heart was racing by this time. Was it really a 1948 Fonseca vintage port. every thing looked good to me and I am no expert but I do know one. Yes Roy look at the bottles and said the bottles had the correct mold markings for the 1940s, it had the correct color and it looked like it had been cellar properly and was confident I had the real thing. $275 per bottle for a pair 1948 Fonseca's not a bad price.

So what is your best auction find?

Maurice Fitzhugh

Maurice:

That is a great auction find. I, unfortunately, have not had that luck in the auction setting. I was given 4 bottles of 1963 Graham from a client/friend who did not appreciate port and wanted the bottles out of his cellar, but that's the best story I have to date.

Bob

I loved when I picked up 1994 Quinta do Vesuvio, in OWC, for under $40/each, but that probably wasn't the best deal. 1983 Smith Woodhouse in 375s at about $8 each? They weren't all in great shape, but the majority drank very well. 1926 C. da Silva for $148 each? That's hard to evaluate because it is such a rare bottle for which there isn't a lot of pricing information.

I actually think some of the best deals I've gotten at auction are mixed lots, but in that case it is kind of hard to evaluate. I bought a mixed lot Taylor, 1994 (~9), 1977 (2), and one bottle of 1955. So what did I pay for the 1955? I calculated a ratio of my cost to retail value and think I came up with a notional cost for the 1955 of under $200. That's a pretty nice price, but not a great deal. On the other hand, I was really in for the 1994s and would have paid what I did just to get them and the 1977s. From that perspective, the 1955 was a free bonus.

So I don't have a singular answer, just some rambings. I haven't scored an unmarked 1948 Fonseca yet

I've had some good auction deals in the last couple of years, including:

- sixpacks of Vesuvio 1995, 1997 and 1998 all at €30 a bottle
- Fonseca 2000, 7 bt @ € 48 a bottle
- Mix lot of 9 bt. Borges & Irmao 1970 (2), C da Silva 1977 (2), Niepoort 1978, Dow's 1980, Warre Cavadinha 1984, Burmester Nossa Senhora 1992, 1937 White Colheita Pinto & Co, all @ € 22 a piece
- Sandeman 1945 (3) at € 150 each
- Taylor's Vargellas 1991 (15) @ €27 each
- Kopke over 40 yo Tawny, bottled 1980 (9) @ € 16 each

I've been buying at auction for a few decades now and perhaps once a decade manage to pull off a coup like Maurice's, but they are few and far between. For every success, there are probably 5 or 6 failures where you get the bottle home, clean it up and discover that you have bought an old standard ruby or tawny port. And with more of us buying at auction these days plus auctions now being accessible via the web, it is much more difficult to catch a bargain.

My two highlights from the past are probably:

• A case of Cockburn 1912 not included in the auction catalogue and mis-described in the late entry sheet as "unknown ruby port" - I bought the lot for £35 per bottle
• Three bottles of Cockburn 1927 listed only as "unknown, possibly port" but the vendor was in the auction room and said that she believed the bottles to have been her late husband's stock of Cockburn 1927. Later pulling a cork confirmed that they were. I paid £64 per bottle for those.

But most of my bargains have come from private sales, house clearances or similar situations. Those stories belong in a different thread.