2011. How can I justify buying it if I'm 61 years old?

[Jay Hack]

I've just read a few of the FTLOP articles on the 2011 declaration and it sounds like something to buy. But I'm 61 years old and both of my children do not like port. Comparisons with 1994 are interesting, but I haven't yet opened my 1994s. Comparisons with 1966 are not helpful, because I will be 108 years old by the time the 2011 reaches that point in its aging curve. I had a 1945 in 1981 and it was wonderful, but I'd have to wait to age 97 for the 2011 to get there. Is there any rational way to get pleasure out of the 2011s over a horizon defined by the next 10-20 years, before the taste buds start to keel over?

[Peter W. Meek]

At age 70, I await answers to this with interest.

[Al B.]

I'm a little younger than both of you, but not by that big a margin.

I would say it's worth you both buying the 2011 vintage for the following reasons:
(a) You can drink them young - they taste fabulous today

(b) There's not much of it produced - Nacional produced 230 cases but Smith Woodhouse only produced 4 times that. It will become very scarce and may increase in value. Your heirs might be grateful for an investment they can sell off.

(c) Buy for your children despite their lack of interest. Many people on this board only really developed their love of port late in life. If your children do suddenly see the light they will be incredibly grateful that you had the foresight to buy these wines.

(d) Buy for the second generation to come - your grandchildren might have more of a taste for port than your children.

(e) Buy to leave what you don't drink as a legacy to a wine library* - the PW Meek collection (and if there isn't a wine library in existence, create one with a local university or similar long-lived establishment).

(f) Buy now as a speculative investment - if these ports really are as good as they seem and as popular as they seem they could increase in value over the short term (but they would be the first vintage to do so in many years).


* Wine Library - a collection of bottles managed by the library members for the benefit of future members where members can "withdraw" a bottle of a certain age a fixed number of times per year on condition it is replaced with a bottle of similar quality wine from the latest release. The number of members, the number of bottles that can be withdrawn and the age of the wines that can be withdrawn is calculated so that the bottles in the library mature over time to sustain the pattern of age / quantity of bottles that can be withdrawn by future members.

[Roy Hersh]

Having spent a crazy amount of time educating myself about this vintage, my simple thoughts on advanced age and 2011 VPs are:

As Alex mentioned, this is a somewhat unique vintage in that it is sublimely approachable in its youth.

I also believe it likely will remain this way throughout its first 20 years of life, unlike many other young vintages. The structure here is pretty solid across the board, but the fruit is a bit different and the aguardente for the most part is quite well integrated, in all but very few bottlings. I see no reason why these can't be enjoyed at 10 years of age and I bet they will be quite a bit more forgiving at that stage than 2000, 2003 and even 2007, imo.

So while you may not want to invest because you don't think you will be fit or even around when they are mature, I think owning a few bottles or cases, is a very sound investment in future drinking pleasure, whether that is in two years, twelve years or twenty. 2011 is that good.

[Moses Botbol]

I'd just a buy a few bottles... Don't go crazy. I am in my 40's and am hesitant to buy anything from 2000+

[Glenn E.]

I'd just a buy a few bottles... Don't go crazy. I am in my 40's and am hesitant to buy anything from 2000+

+1

Somehow that doesn't stop me, though.

[Romano J. Sims]

Buy them today; trade them in 5-10 yrs for what you really want. At 71, taste buds mature as well.

[Eric Menchen]

I'd just a buy a few bottles... Don't go crazy. I am in my 40's and am hesitant to buy anything from 2000+

I too am in my 40s, and am thinking 2011 might be one of my last big buys (3 or more cases possible). I'm sure I'll buy more after the 2011s, but the amount will start to go down.

[Jeff G.]

I've just read a few of the FTLOP articles on the 2011 declaration and it sounds like something to buy. But I'm 61 years old and both of my children do not like port. Comparisons with 1994 are interesting, but I haven't yet opened my 1994s. Comparisons with 1966 are not helpful, because I will be 108 years old by the time the 2011 reaches that point in its aging curve. I had a 1945 in 1981 and it was wonderful, but I'd have to wait to age 97 for the 2011 to get there. Is there any rational way to get pleasure out of the 2011s over a horizon defined by the next 10-20 years, before the taste buds start to keel over?

how bout you buy a few singles from me and pay me for storage since i'm already 11 cs deep

[Roy Hersh]

I don't know that I will ever really drink into anything beyond 1994, if that. I am fine with my daughter inheriting a great Port collection and knowing that I can do that for her, is something that keeps me buying in great years. I have purchased a few cases of 2011 overall and am thrilled to know these will be in stock for her. Then again, when they hit 20, I will be tasting one bottle of each for sure. The prices are worthy of a vintage like this that will be regarded as one of the greats. As you've now read from the Port trade in the current newsletter ... the 2011 is not about hype and hyperbole, it really is something special and I've had some private discussions with some of the best winemaking palates in the Douro and got their private views too. They are no different, all believe this to be a historic year for Vintage Ports, several saying this is the best young vintage they had ever seen or tasted ... not just made. Vintages like this don't come around often, I don't know whether you can even put 2000/2003 in this league and maybe one needs to go back to the 1994 or all the way to 1970, for comparison sake. That remains to be seen and obviously is pure speculation at this point, even if there are similarities noted by members of the trade.

[Moses Botbol]

Ok, I'll buy a few 2011's for the heck of it.

[Andy Velebil]

Buy and enjoy them young if you have to. I've bought a decent amount as at 40 years old in 20-30 years I'll still be drinking Port (I hope) and would like some nice well stored bottles to pick from. And a 20-30 year old VP will fit that bill perfectly. And knowing me, I'll be doing "sample checks" on them along the way

[Tom D.]

At first, I figured I wouldn't buy any, as I like my VP well-aged with some tertiary and tawny elements, and I wouldn't expect to be living when the 2011's get to my preferred drinking window. I just don't love the profile of young, big, fruity Ports, and I prefer not to spend my limited Port budget just for the experienced of being impressed by a young Port's potential, even if it's balanced and approachable.

But there's so much hype for the 2011's, I'm on the fence now. Everyone claims it's an ageworthy vintage that should also be enjoyable early. That seems like a risky generalization to me as two people's definition of "enjoyable" may not be the same, but I'll at least wait to read more notes and taste a few myself before deciding.

I guess my main concern is how quickly or slowly the 2011's will evolve in bottle and develop some of the mature qualities I love. That almost never happens quickly to any great wine, but there are rare exceptions.

[Marc J.]

Ok, I'll buy a few 2011's for the heck of it.

+1

Similar to the comments that Tom D. made, I do prefer the nuances of fully mature VP. Of course, some of the younger vintages are fun to taste as they evolve but generally speaking, I tend to drink VPs with 20+ years on them. As a result 1997 was the last vintage that I really purchased in volume and I can't see myself living long enough to fully enjoy the 2011 vintage. Sure, with the miracles of science I might still be able to enjoy some fully mature 2011s, but I'm not counting on it. With that being said and given all of reviews that I've heard, I'm thinking of picking up a cross-section of 2011s that I can sample and track their develoment over the next decade or two.

[Tom D.]

Ok, I'll buy a few 2011's for the heck of it.

.... Sure, with the miracles of science I might still be able to enjoy some fully mature 2011s, but I'm not counting on it...

I guess we might all be pleasantly surprised, in which case there is one hell of a 100th birthday party in our future!

[Tom Archer]

I am grateful to the people who laid down bottles many years ago, that I enjoy today.

I have no idea who will enjoy many of the younger bottles that I now lay down - to me that is not important.

What is important is to bequeathe to future generations what our forebears have bequeathed to us.

[Jeff G.]

I am grateful to the people who laid down bottles many years ago, that I enjoy today.

I have no idea who will enjoy many of the younger bottles that I now lay down - to me that is not important.

What is important is to bequeathe to future generations what our forebears have bequeathed to us.

can i call dibs?

[Jeff G.]

I don't know that I will ever really drink into anything beyond 1994, if that. I am fine with my daughter inheriting a great Port collection and knowing that I can do that for her, is something that keeps me buying in great years. I have purchased a few cases of 2011 overall and am thrilled to know these will be in stock for her. Then again, when they hit 20, I will be tasting one bottle of each for sure. The prices are worthy of a vintage like this that will be regarded as one of the greats. As you've now read from the Port trade in the current newsletter ... the 2011 is not about hype and hyperbole, it really is something special and I've had some private discussions with some of the best winemaking palates in the Douro and got their private views too. They are no different, all believe this to be a historic year for Vintage Ports, several saying this is the best young vintage they had ever seen or tasted ... not just made. Vintages like this don't come around often, I don't know whether you can even put 2000/2003 in this league and maybe one needs to go back to the 1994 or all the way to 1970, for comparison sake. That remains to be seen and obviously is pure speculation at this point, even if there are similarities noted by members of the trade.

I'm surprised that you bring up the 1970s as going through the notes from the vintage port site from SFE shows they were pretty different environments for port.

2011 had an abundance of water to start from the end of 2010
1969 showed very little rain

the first two months of 2011 made up for the ground water

where as the 1970 was a consistent growing season
the 2011s were as quoted "a roller coaster ride" with earlier coming rainfalls in august vs the steady sept rainfall in 1970

2011s were late harvest
1970s were regular schedule harvest


Regardless, I love the 2011 tastings that i've had it was certainly much better then the way over hyped 2007 vintage.

For a specific house, namely fonseca, I've actually preferred the 2003s on release. And after tasting the 2003 fonseca again, I personally feel that that's goign to be a special wine.

[Tom Archer]

I see a similarity between 1970 and 2011, not in terms of harvest technicalities, but in terms of a very broad field of very sound ports.

1970 is notable for the rarity of lame duck VPs, and I think 2011 is going follow in its footsteps.

Moreover, whilst it's still very early days to pass judgement, my initial impression is that the maturation profile of 2011 could well be similar to 1970.

[Glenn E.]

I love the 2011 tastings that i've had it was certainly much better then the way over hyped 2007 vintage.

I don't think 2007 was over-hyped. You just have to know how to read hype.

My memory of the launch of the 2007 is that people felt it was special, but in a "this vintage has unique characteristics" way and not a "this vintage is one of the ages" way. I never felt that I was being sold a once-in-a-lifetime vintage with the 2007s like I'm hearing for the 2011s. Instead, I felt like I was being sold a historical change - a piece of history if you will - and to that extent I believe it is true. To me, 2007 is the first vintage where pretty much across the board all of the released Ports were very approachable on release. Naturally I'm only basing that on my experience with 2007 vs what I've read about other vintages, but it still seems to hold true. The 2007s are still "special" in that they are still very approachable. Most 2000s and 2003s are not - they've retreated into the funk (or "down phase") that historically holds through the teenage years.

Obviously, we won't know whether or not the 2007s are going to suffer a similar (and historically normal) fate for a few more years, but so far it seems like they aren't. By 2009 I was seeing evidence that the 2003s were either entering or preparing to enter their funk, and I don't see that from the 2007s. Yet. :)

2011 on the other hand... based on the story being sold, it's either going to be epic or a disappointment.