Oldest Port you have ever tasted or own in your collection?

[RonnieRoots]

The oldest port I drank was a 1871 Quinta de Loureiro Colheita. The oldest bottle in my cellar is 1952 Niepoort Garrafeira.

[Andy Velebil]

Oldest i have tasted: 1890 Ramos Pinto Colheita

Oldest in my cellar: 1952 Dalva Porto Golden White Colheita

[Eric Duprey]

The oldest I have tasted would also have to be the 1890 Ramos Pinto Colheita. The oldest in my cellar is a Butler & Nephew 1932.

[Alex K.]

The oldest port I drank was a 1871 Quinta de Loureiro Colheita.

Amazing, me too!

The oldest in my cellar is 1963 Warre's which is need of drinking.

[Ronald Wortel]

KillerB, are you suggesting that we should come over soon?

[Steven Kooij]

The oldest port I drank was a 1871 Quinta de Loureiro Colheita.

Amazing, me too!

The oldest in my cellar is 1963 Warre's which is need of drinking.

It's like a conspiracy, but it's my oldest as well...what are the odds? :)

Oldest in the cellar now is a Krohn 1900 Colheita, oldest VP is a Taylor '63.

[Alex K.]

KillerB, are you suggesting that we should come over soon?

Please do - we've moved now and can fit you in.

[aakesson]

I'm curious to know what date the oldest bottle of Port is in your own collections. Or the oldest Port you have ever had the opportunity to drink. Mine is and 1896 Dow, after that it would be a 1900 Taylor's.
Are there any bottles of Port known to exist from the 1700's?

The oldest vintage port I have tasted is the Ferreira 1815, at a port tasting in London in, I think, 1985. There was a complete documentation, describing how this bottle and 11 others had found their way to the cellars of Sandeman's in Glasgow. The person who brought the bottle to our tasting had bought it in 1948, together with i.al. 24 bottles of Noval 1931. The cellar notes indicated that the 1815 bottle (and its siblings) had received a new lead cap in 1888. The cork was very firm, almost like wood, but still with a flexibility which (together with the cap) protected the wine from oxygen.
In July 2006, I arranged a small tasting here in Malmö (south Sweden, close to Copenhagen) for my friends in the 18% Society (a wine club where 18 gentlemen taste 18%+ wine on a regular basis), and included a 1815 port. It was a lovely wine. The cellar documentation indicated that it had been bottled in 1818, but like most old vintage ports the wine had developed to be more like a tawny port. It had probably been "transvasaged" (spent some decades in a big glass bottle before being bottled; a method similar to what Niepoort's and others have used into our days).

In 2001, I arranged a trip for the 18% members to Porto and brought a few dozens of vintage ports for tasting with the houses. It was a special pleasure for me to be able to bring two bottles of the Sandeman 1872 vintage. We tasted one of them at a vertical tasting at Sandeman's, together with some very interesting old Sandeman and Roncao vintages provided by George Sandeman. The 1872 was really good, with a decent vintage character. It turned out that Sandeman's did not have any 1872 Sandeman in their cellars - I was delighted to be able to leave the second bottle there.

For another 18%-tasting here in Malmo, I brought a 1882 vintage port bottled by the semi-German merchant Koenig. As many other vintage port bottles from this period, it had a lead cap which seemed air-tight. The wine was absolutely OK. Some of us loved it, but I have noticed that even some highly qualified wine tasters prefer younger vintage ports.

Last week, my friends Stefan Sällström and Sten A Ivarsson brought a bottle (house unkown, only the name of the wine merchant on the label) of 1862 port (and a Mavrodaphne 1873!!) to the 18% tasting. It was similar to the 1882 Koenig with a lovely vintage port fragrance. Vintage port bottles from the 19th century could be found for sale in Denmark at reasonable prices (the 1882 Koenig was bought in 1982 at around 4 USD)

It is, of course, much easier to find old colheitas than old vintage port. I treasure the memory of a dinner in Porto when David Guimaraens brought a bottle of a 1862 colheita which Bruce, David and I shared after having enjoyed a 1935 (Bruce Guimarens's year of birth) Taylor's vintage which I brought. We have tasted colheitas with a verified dating back to 1801 and some colheitas, which may have been from before 1800 but without any proof of their age. There still are some pre-phylloxera colheitas not only in private cellars but also in the wine cellars of universities and clubs

For the 10th birthday of the 18%, I arranged a tasting with fortified wines from four centuries: 1795 Madeira, some vintage ports from the 19th century, ditto form the 20th century and a Lustau sherry from 2001.

As always, the provenience of a bottle is essential. I have seen several "fakes". Some examples: 1931 Noval which was re-labelled as 1931 Nacional, more recent Noval vintages where someone just added Nacional on the label, bottles with old ruby port with a "vintage" label etc etc. This goes for Madeira bottles as well: the word "solera" sometimes has been deleted (I recently noticed that on some bottles of 1760 Malaga wine, too).

For a careful and serious taster, old fortified wines can give memories for life - and hope for the future!

[tastingnote]

The oldest port I've ever tried was an 1868 Warre's when it was 135 years old. We compared it to a 1963 - which was unfair! - and while the younger wine was better, the old one was dry, tawny-ish and still good. It still remains the oldest wine I've ever drunk and also one of the most memorable wine experiences I've had.

The oldest port I have in my cellar is a 1945 Grahams, but I might have a 1920's port as well. I was given an old bottle by a lady who's husband had passed away and she said that I might as well have it.

She doesn't know if it is port, but she thought it was as her husband was keen on it. The level is at the bottom of the neck and the colour is a lovely ruby red. All I can see on the capsule is "192_" and something that looks like 'ham'. I REALLY hope it is a '20's Grahams (my favourite house), and I have promised myself I will open it before this year is out!

Now I just need to buy a pair of port tongs and practice using them!
Peter

[Roy Hersh]

I know of at least 10 people that should post in this thread that have definitely changed their oldest Port ever tasted. In terms of ownership, I also would be there are many new people here today that own some really old bottles, conversely, people who have been around more than this month, that have added to their budding collection. It doesn't matter if your oldest bottles is a 1994 Vesuvio ... there is NO reason to be embarrassed to admit that. We're not snobs here, so please do share!

[Eric Ifune]

Oldest is a 1863 Krohn Colheita.
Oldest Vintage is a 1935 Sandeman.

[John M.]

Oldest I have tasted is a 1963 Warre's

Oldest in my Collection is a 1975 Taylor.

One of my goals for 2013 is to obtain a few 1963, 1966 & 1970s bottles.

[Glenn E.]

The oldest Port I have ever tasted was an 1873 Schofeld Vintage Port at a tasting in 2008. I've also tasted an 1890 and an 1895.

The oldest Port in my collection is a tie - I have 1937 Colheitas from Warre, Moreira, Novel, and Porto Rocha. I drank my Kopke and Niepoort.

My oldest VP is a 1960 Croft.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

[Anders C]

Tasted Feist Vintage 1878..... and in April im invitedfor a tasting with ferreira 1815

In my Cellar... Hoopers Vintage 1912

[Miguel Simoes]

Still in my early days here...

tasted: 1977 Grahams VP
own: 1983 Grahams VP

Havent got into the Colheitas yet...

[David Spriggs]

1812 John Allen (Villar d'Allen). Given its age it's probably not technically Colheita and I don't believe it's VP. So let's just call it Colheita.

Vintage Port? This is difficult. Maybe 1908 Cockburn? Most of my VP experiences are from 1955 to present day.

In my cellar:

Oldest in my collection:

1900 Niepoort Colheita
1963 Fonseca Vintage Port

[Brian C.]

Oldest I've tried: 1853 Whitwham's King Pedro V
Oldest in my cellar: 1985 Fonseca VP

[Eric Menchen]

Oldest VP I've tasted is the 1935 Sandeman. Ahh, that was a wonderful bottle. Thank you again Roy for sharing.
Oldest VP I own is a 1955 Taylor.
On the Colheita side, the oldest I've tasted is a 1934 Niepoort.
I own a 1952 Dalva Golden White and a 1952 Rocha.

[Marc J.]

The oldest I have tasted is a 1851 Warre

Oldest VP I own is 1830 Ferreira
Oldest Colheita I own is a 1863 N. Almeida

[Al B.]

Oldest port I've tasted was a pair of 1815 vintage ports at Roy's 50th birthday party in 2007. These were the Ferreira and Royal Oporto. Oldest colheita is probably the 1853 Whitwam's Dom Pedro port.

I'm not sure what the oldest port I own is. I have a handful of bottles from before the US Civil War. The oldest colheita I own is the Graham 1952.