For The Love Of Port

1983 Taylor VP (intend to drink before the end of the year, probably New Year's Eve)

1985 Graham VP (this may hang around for awhile)

Interestingly, my oldest Colheitas are both white... the 1952 Dalva Golden White (when it arrives) and the 1964 Krohn Colheita Branco. Although I don't age red Colheitas I'm taking a gamble on the whites... I'm hoping that they age more like Madeiras in the bottle... we'll see.

Oldest vintage is 1963 Grahams.

As an update, I just decided to get three of the 1952 Dalva's (one a surprise for a good friend), so that will be my new oldest, though I will not actually possess them for some time.

As others have said, the slope is definitely slippery.

I am really pleased that so many folks here have ventured into this thread and I hope we have a lot more that will be doing so too. I love watching how cellars have grown, the depth of what is now in them as people learn what they like and how to become a more savvy Port buyer. This along with watching how 'ers tasting notes become more developed and individuals gain greater palate accuity, is one of the most rewarding facets of watching the Forum evolve over the years.

Come on Fred, Luc, Andy, Alex, Kris, Ted, Todd and others ... ante up!

Well , here goes .
I joined on this day in 2006 .
I knew my computer had 2 USB ports . . .
3 ans plus tard , I have a mini cellar ( 30 bottles capacity ) . (limited budget) ( 2 kids will do that )
Have a 12 or so books related to Port .
A VP painting by Raymond Campbell in the kitchen ( still not an accepted piece by my better half )
Tasted my 1st tainted VP this year .
Tasted my 1st closed VP this year .
My oldest is a Dow 1980 , although I had a Burmester 1944 colheita in my cellar .

Bryan H. wrote:As an update, I just decided to get three of the 1952 Dalva's (one a surprise for a good friend), so that will be my new oldest, though I will not actually possess them for some time.

As others have said, the slope is definitely slippery.

NICE

Since I started my collection in order to save money, I almost never buy expensive older vintages in retail outlets nor get involved with auctions. In fact the on time I bid for wines on an online auction it was for five bottles of older Australian port. Unfortunately the shipper never sent it and I lost the wines.

The oldest vintage ports in my cellar are mostly the ones I bought some years ago, '77s from Warre's, Graham's , Sandeman's, and Fonseca (the latter signed by Bruce when he was here in Edmonton). I did buy a couple of bottles of '76 Guimaraens when they turned up about five years ago mainly because it was so backward and young, more youthful than the '77 Fonseca.

If non-Portuguese "ports" are included then I do have some Australian "port" from the '70s and 80s, well as a couple from California and South Africa that are from the '80s.

Cheers.................Mahmoud.

Eric, you say you have a '65 Malvedos. I recall drinking a bottle of that in the early 90s when it was almost 30 years old and it seemed quite firm for it's age. We thought it needed about a 3-4 hour decant but the concensus was that it required more. One of my tasting buddies is a '65er and I wish I still had that bottle.

Did you buy that bottle recently, and how much is it worth? Do you know anything about how it's drinking?

Cheers...............Mahmoud.

Mahmoud Ali wrote:Eric, you say you have a '65 Malvedos. ... Did you buy that bottle recently, and how much is it worth? Do you know anything about how it's drinking?

I bought that single bottle for $75 in the past year from a Chicago area wine shop. How much is it worth? Well, I'll suggest at least $75 but that's hard to say since you can't readily find them. The bottle is in good shape other than a small part of the wax capsule being chipped. I bought it to match someone's birth year and didn't have great expectations. Thanks for your impression Mahmoud. I don't know how it is drinking, but now I'm a little more optimistic.

I bought a case of the Malvedos 1965 at £33 per bottle in November 2006. 1965 is my birth year. I opened one bottle in January 2007 and a copy of my TN from that bottle can be viewed here.

Nice juice!

Derek,

I am assuming we either just missed or will be coming up on your birthday. What is that date btw?

Are you planning to open another bottle of the 1965 this year?

1977 Dow's VP
1976 Noval Colheita

The oldest colheita I have in my cellar at the moment is from 1977 - and I only have that one bottle!

VP - 1985 Graham's
Colheita - 1963 Offley Baron de Forrester

The majority of my really old bottles were donated for my 50th birthday weekend. It is all down hill from there. Now, I think 1890 is my oldest.

'37 Noval Colheita & '45 Croft VP (since the 1897 Byass VP was downed a year or so ago)

Roy Hersh wrote:Derek,

I am assuming we either just missed or will be coming up on your birthday. What is that date btw?

Are you planning to open another bottle of the 1965 this year?

The big day is 28th March. Me and all the remaining 1965 VP's will be 45 on that day. I will be opening a Malvedos for a huge vertical that is planned for 22nd March in London and will be sneaking a small sample away so that I can drink it on the 28th to ensure my continued eternal life

I do need to find more bottles of 1965 VP to drink within +/-14 days of my birthday each year otherwise, somewhat surprisingly, one day I will die.

Roy Hersh wrote:Now, I think 1890 is my oldest.

I have an 1875. I think we have the makings of an off-line

Of my oldest bottles, I have a couple of 1820's, both colheitas, I think - a Chamisso and a D. Guilherme; I also have a Ferreira 1834, a Barrows of Birmingham 1847, an Adolf Lion 1868, and an unknown 1875..

Of all types of port, I currently own 26 bottles that are over 100 years old, and have bottles from every major vintage since 1890.

The average age of my bottles is currently 27 years, 4 months. Collectively, my cellar of vintage port gains over 7 years of bottle age every day..

Tom

Roy: Now, I think 1890 is my oldest.
Derek: I have an 1875. I think we have the makings of an off-line

It was either a good day or at least a great 24 hours, (Fri/Sat) as I had both ... shared my 1890 Colheita and someone else's 1875 Vintage port.