Leaky Bottle or 1960s Taylor

[sharon S]

Hi all I found a bottle of 1960 Taylor, Vintage Port of Portugal, Label says Imported by Le Reine Importing, Blauvelt NY, Shipped by Richard Torin Fine Wines. The seal over the cord is sticky. It has leaked a little. I have a few questions, 1. is this safe to drink. 2. should it be opened? 3. should it be sold? Did it have any value?

I have attached Photos - would love to know more about this bottle - decanting and if you think it is drinkable

[Moses Botbol]

drinkable.

[Eric Menchen]

Hi all I found a bottle of 1960 Taylor, Vintage Port of Portugal, Label says Imported by Le Reine Importing, Blauvelt NY, Shipped by Richard Torin Fine Wines. The seal over the cord is sticky. It has leaked a little. I have a few questions, 1. is this safe to drink. 2. should it be opened? 3. should it be sold? Did it have any value?

Why did you post in the VIP Virtual Visits - Guest Corner forum?

1. Yes. Old bottles may taste bad, but generally can't harbor anything that will kill you, largely due to the alcohol level.
2. Yes. I would open it and give it a try. Given the condition, I give a 25-50% chance of being good.
3. You could sell it, but the bottle is in quite poor condition. A bottle in good condition might fetch $300 or more. I'm sure you could find someone willing to pay more than $200, but I wouldn't risk that amount. And if you go the auction route, they will take a cut and sell for a lower price than retail.

[sharon S]

Thank you so much for answering me I will open it and drink it.

[Glenn E.]

Topic moved to a more appropriate forum.

[Glenn E.]

Hi all I found a bottle of 1960 Taylor, Vintage Port of Portugal, Label says Imported by Le Reine Importing, Blauvelt NY, Shipped by Richard Torin Fine Wines. The seal over the cord is sticky. It has leaked a little. I have a few questions, 1. is this safe to drink. 2. should it be opened? 3. should it be sold? Did it have any value?

I have attached Photos - would love to know more about this bottle - decanting and if you think it is drinkable

1. It should be perfectly safe to drink. Bottles that old often look like yours. And as Eric said, the fact that Port is 20% alcohol means it is very unlikely that there's anything in it that can hurt you.

2. Whether or not you choose to open it probably depends on whether or not you want to drink it. As mentioned it should be perfectly safe and is probably a pretty decent Port, so it might be worth sharing with friends after a dinner party. 1960 wasn't a great year but it was a generally declared year so it was - at least at some point in its history - a nice bottle of Port. It may still be. Port is a very sturdy wine.

3. It is difficult to judge from your pictures, but I agree with Eric that it probably won't sell for anywhere close to its theoretical value. A well-kept bottle from 1960 could be worth $300, $350, or even $400, but your bottle does not look like it has been well kept. If I saw this bottle at auction I might risk as much as $100, but that's probably about it. With more/better pictures I might be willing to risk more.

4. As far as decanting goes, that will depend on how much has leaked. If the fill level is still into the neck or even at the base of the neck, then it hasn't really leaked much and an hour or two of decanting would probably be good. But if the fill level is much lower than that, you probably won't want to decant it ahead of time as that might cause it to start to fade. Better to (for example) open it as dinner ends and then serve it with or after dessert.