Bottle size and ageing potential

[Thomas Tideman Holst]

How will a VP 0,375 bottle age compared to a 0,75 bottle?

Is there a rule?

As an example I have the Niepoort 2005 VP in 0,375 and 0,75 bottles.
When will the different bottles peak?

[Moses Botbol]

There's a lot of opinions, but most lean towards the larger the bottle, the slower the aging and higher the potential will be. As bottles beyond the 1.5, the hand driven corks can be a little more tempremental.

I wonder how many have done side-by-side's with a 375 & 750 from the same cellar? I'd think the 375's are more fragile to temp changes.

[Andy Velebil]

Based on my own drinking experience and from talking to family and friends that work at wineries, all have said the larger the format the slower the aging process. However, exactly how much difference in aging between them is something no one has seemed to be able to pinpoint yet.

My personal rule of thumb is 375's will sit in my cellar about 1/2 the time of a 750 before I drink them up. Of course this can vary a bit based on how it develops during that time. As an example, if I think a 750 of 2003 Vintage Port "A" will last 40 years, then I'll probably try to drink all my 375's of this same Port by the 20 year mark. YMMV

The one thing I've heard a lot from family and friends is bottles larger than 1500cl (1.5 liters) have more issues with corks not sealing correctly. Since these large bottles are usually hand made the necks are irregular and the corks don't always fit as perfectly as they do on smaller machine made bottles. So they can be susceptible to leaking or oxidation issues that smaller bottles don't. Then again, Port at the moment isn't allwod to be sold in anything larger than 1.5 liters (with certain exceptions) so no real need to worry.....Well at least until Julian has his way

[Roy Hersh]

Any news on that front from Julian? I know he met with the IVDP about it, but that means nothing as they move about as fast as a battleship in a bathtub (Derek's expression). I really hope that Julian's persistence pays off. This would be great and it is really silly that consumers can buy large formats of Sauternes and other dessert wine but because of the ABV in a 3, 5 or 6 liter bottle, Port seems to fall into a different category.

[Thomas Tideman Holst]

Thanks Andy.


As a fairly new "portoholic" i find it hard to find aged VP's at a reasonable price (pre 94').
Waiting another 20 years for my first ports to age seemed unbearable.
With your rule of thumb, I guess some of my halves can reach their peak soon, and that is good news.