What is the best value Port?

[Moses Botbol]

I saw one Noval 97 for something like $150, which is slightly low, but nothing consistent. The Taylor has definitely held, as I've been watching the 1992 particularly closely. Fonseca 1992, on the other hand, has been cheaper. 've been watching to get 1977, but no luck there finding cheaper prices.

Wow, $150... one could buy a big name 1970 vintage for that price. Hard for me to give a reason for buying 1997...

[Eric Menchen]

Wow, $150... one could buy a big name 1970 vintage for that price. Hard for me to give a reason for buying 1997...

Most 1997s are relatively cheap compared to 1994, 2000, etc., but the Noval is an exception, being perhaps the best of the vintage. I stole one for $100, paid $200 for another. Listing this week on Winebid.com is $165 + 15% = $189.75. Oh, then there is the 1997 Nacional ...

[Eric Menchen]

Adding to the idea that prices have come down lately is this graph from Winebid.com. For the bottles that I've purchased from them, the top line shows what I've paid. The orange area is their current estimate of the value. So arguably I've lost some of my investment in the last year or so. On the other hand, I drank some of those, and I could have consumed a bottle at its peak value (and taste hopefully) before it fell. Winebid doesn't know what I've consumed. The reality is I doubt I drank enough to account for the value gap, and what I drank may or may not have come down in price.

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[Tom Archer]

As an avid follower of the auction scene in the UK, I don't see any marked trend in port prices other than a rather greater degree of fluctuation this year.

Bordeaux prices however are pretty much in freefall at the moment, with some London sales this year seeing most lots go unsold. I have also noticed that the enthusiasm for investing in new releases, so evident a couple of years back, has effectively vanished.

My impression is that port tends to lag Bordeaux, and that if the Bordeaux prices continue their decline, there may well be some contagion over the coming months.

[Rob C.]

As an avid follower of the auction scene in the UK, I don't see any marked trend in port prices other than a rather greater degree of fluctuation this year.

Bordeaux prices however are pretty much in freefall at the moment, with some London sales this year seeing most lots go unsold. I have also noticed that the enthusiasm for investing in new releases, so evident a couple of years back, has effectively vanished.

My impression is that port tends to lag Bordeaux, and that if the Bordeaux prices continue their decline, there may well be some contagion over the coming months.

Possibly....though i don't think that port has seen anything like the rise in prices that Bdx has since 2005 - even accounting for the mini-slump in 2009 (the proceeds of buying and selling 08 first growths have pretty much funded my port cellar....!)

In that respects, Bdx is simply returning from the bubble to a more "natural" price at which the many wine lovers around the world can (just about) afford to buy it for drinking....rather than speculators buying to sell later.

Personally, i'd be surprised if we see <90 VP fall below what it currently is to any significant degree (i do not think the same for 00 and 03 VPs, which i'd expect to decrease in price and see available to purchase very cheaply over the next 5-10 years). However, i'm still buying all the 1966/1970 i can get my hands on at reasonable price....will last our lifetimes and i'd be very surprised if prices don't go the way of 63 and ultimately 55, 45,35 etc...