For The Love Of Port

Hi Everyone,

After my mother passed away recently, I was cleaning out her house and found a bottle of port stored in the back of a dark cupboard where her spirits etc were stored. I am wondering if it has any value now or if it is even drinkable - I have limited knowledge on the topic. It is Balcombe 1982 Superior Old Port, Vintaged and Bottled by Mt. Aitken Vineyard, Gisborne, Victoria, Australia. The description on the bottle is as follows:

This fine Old Tawny Port is made from fully ripened Shiraz and Grenache grapes grown at the Mt. Aiken Vineyards in South Australia. A high quality brandy spirit was used to fortify the port and it was then matured in smaller oak casks.

Any help is much appreciated.

Cheers,
Karl

Hi Karl,

There are some very fine Austalian "stickies" as they're colloquially referred to, but I've never heard of Balcombe. Tawny ports are not generally intended to be aged in the bottle, though, so while I suspect it would still be a nice drink it probably isn't going to be an earth-shattering experience. I have no idea what the bottle might be worth, but if I had to guess I'd say no more than $40-50 and that's mostly as an interesting curiosity.

Hopefully someone else will have better information for you.

A Glenn mentioned, I would not suspect this Assuie stickie is worth much. Being stored in a cupboard isn't ideal storage either. I'd recommend opening it family/friends and hope that it is still decent to drink.

Also, I can't seem to find any current info on the winery so it's possible they are no longer in business...or keep one really low profile nowadays.