Port Finds - 1981 & 1995

This forum is for discussing all things Port (as in from PORTugal) - vintages, recommendations, tasting notes, etc.

Moderators: Glenn E., Roy Hersh, Andy Velebil

Post Reply
Jordan D
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:08 pm
Location: Chicago, USA

Port Finds - 1981 & 1995

Post by Jordan D »

I was cleaning out my grandma's house yesterday and found the following two ports and was hoping someone here could provide me any details about them.

Quinta Do Noval - Bottled in 1981
Graham's - Bottled 1995

Images:
Port1.png
Port1.png (575.64 KiB) Viewed 768 times
Port2.jpg
Port2.jpg (127.8 KiB) Viewed 768 times
Thanks in advance for any help.
Jordan D
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:08 pm
Location: Chicago, USA

Re: Port Finds - 1981 & 1995

Post by Jordan D »

Apologies for the image size!
User avatar
John M.
Posts: 2110
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:15 pm
Location: Hunterdon County, New Jersey, USA

Re: Port Finds - 1981 & 1995

Post by John M. »

They are 10 year old tawnies...meaning they taste how a 10 year old tawny port should. Usually these are intended to be opened with a couple years of bottling. Still, they are likely still good. Not worth too much...about $20-25 each retail. I suggest you drink them yourself...not worth trying to sell them. Best would be to gather 4-8 folks together, have a little party and taste them both.
Any Port in a storm!
User avatar
Glenn E.
Posts: 8258
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:49 am
Location: Sammamish, Washington, United States of America - USA
Contact:

Re: Port Finds - 1981 & 1995

Post by Glenn E. »

Jordan D wrote:Apologies for the image size!
I resized 'em for you. :)

As John said, these are 10 Year Old Tawny Ports which are intended to be consumed within a few years of bottling. Yours are old enough, though, that Port nerds might find the experience extra entertaining due to the novelty. So they might have some additional value due to that, but I doubt they'd even approach $50/bottle. They might be worth maybe $35/bottle? It's really hard to say.
Glenn Elliott
User avatar
Andy Velebil
Posts: 16717
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2005 4:49 pm
Location: Los Angeles, California, United States of America - USA
Contact:

Re: Port Finds - 1981 & 1995

Post by Andy Velebil »

I've had an old Noval 40 year tawny, bottled a bit before this one. It was drinkable....barely. Worth next to nothing. Try it and hope for sorta being ok.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Andy Velebil Good wine is a good familiar creature if it be well used. William Shakespeare http://www.fortheloveofport.com
User avatar
Glenn E.
Posts: 8258
Joined: Wed Jan 23, 2008 10:49 am
Location: Sammamish, Washington, United States of America - USA
Contact:

Re: Port Finds - 1981 & 1995

Post by Glenn E. »

Andy Velebil wrote:I've had an old Noval 40 year tawny, bottled a bit before this one. It was drinkable....barely. Worth next to nothing. Try it and hope for sorta being ok.
I had a Niepoort 30 Year Old Tawny once that was bottled in the 70s, so it was a 30-yr old with an additional 30 years of bottle age. It was very good and very interesting, though also very different than a normal (fresh) Niepoort 30. Niepoort, though, is one of the few producers for whom something like that might be considered reasonable, so you're probably right about these (Noval and Graham) since those aren't really made for the long haul.
Glenn Elliott
Jordan D
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:08 pm
Location: Chicago, USA

Re: Port Finds - 1981 & 1995

Post by Jordan D »

Thanks for the information. A party is definitely in their future! [cheers.gif]
User avatar
John M.
Posts: 2110
Joined: Fri Feb 27, 2009 2:15 pm
Location: Hunterdon County, New Jersey, USA

Re: Port Finds - 1981 & 1995

Post by John M. »

Jordan D wrote:Thanks for the information. A party is definitely in their future! [cheers.gif]
Just have a couple of back ups!
Any Port in a storm!
User avatar
Tom Archer
Posts: 2790
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 8:09 pm
Location: Near Saffron Walden, England

Re: Port Finds - 1981 & 1995

Post by Tom Archer »

I have several aged Noval 10yr tawnies and can tell you that they do age very well. This is mainly because they are moderately filtered - you should find a little fine sediment in that bottle.

Graham on the other hand tend to filter their tawnies more aggressively (too much so, IMO) - I once had a very poor experience with 40yr Graham that had been bottled just twelve years prior..

I would therefore expect the Noval to drink very well, but the Graham might be a bit of a disappointment..
Post Reply