What Port(s) have you purchased this week?

[Andy Velebil]

Andy,

The 1863 was produced by N. de Almeida & Co. and the 1962 while colheita was bottled by Ramos-Pinto.

Marc

[Thomas Tideman Holst]

It's not like any of you hold us back.

I'm about to push you off the edge - my friendly wine merchant is currently putting together a example quote for shipping a 6 pack of Vintage Port from the UK to Norway

The good news is he told me today that the import laws in Norway were simplified last year so it is now far less difficult to achieve. The bad news is you will never have any money ever again

Great stuff Derek! It's especially hard to get pre 97 vintages in Norway, and I am very interested in filling my huge pre 97 "gap".
Norwegians are now alowed to import wine, only trouble is the alcohol tax + shipping cost + VAT. Can your local "pusher" give a UK tax refund when exporting?

[Sebastian T]

(half bottles:)
1x Vista Alegre Over 40 Years Old Tawny at about 55,90 $ (399 SEK)
3x Vista Alegre 30 year old tawny at about 41,33 $ apiece (295 SEK)

Does anyone know for long I dare save these? (of course you do ) Not that I would mind being forced to open them up sooner rather than later, but it would be nice if they don't pass their prime before at least a year or two.

[Glenn E.]

(half bottles:)
1x Vista Alegre Over 40 Years Old Tawny at about 55,90 $ (399 SEK)
3x Vista Alegre 30 year old tawny at about 41,33 $ apiece (295 SEK)

Does anyone know for long I dare save these? (of course you do ) Not that I would mind being forced to open them up sooner rather than later, but it would be nice if they don't pass their prime before at least a year or two.

Nice bottles, and great prices!

How long you can save them depends on when they were bottled. Conventional wisdom says that tawnies should be drunk within a year or two of bottling. I don't agree with that, and in fact I have had many tawnies that had been in their bottles for over 10 years. I've had some that have been bottled for over 30 years!

Tawnies do change over time in the bottle. Some people claim that this change is always for the worse. I disagree. In some cases tawnies - especially Colheitas - can improve with bottle age. But just as with Vintage Port, there is a bit of a cycle to that aging.

You know how VP sort of goes into a funk and closes down after a few years in bottle, then 10 or 15 years later opens up again? The same thing happens to tawnies as they age, except (in my experience) slightly faster. For me, tawnies seem to go into their funk about 3-5 years after being bottled and typically come out of it at about 8-12 years. But each bottle is different, so it is difficult to tell exactly how each one will perform.

So if I were you, I'd drink those within 3 years of their bottling date if possible. If not... then hang onto them for a decade before you open them. The middle years just aren't as interesting.

[Roy Hersh]

2007 Quinta do Vesuvio DOC - 6 pack

[Al B.]

2007 Quinta do Vesuvio DOC - 6 pack

Ahh. Hard to resist at the right price.

[Lamont Huxley]

A couple of days ago...

1 x Portal 1995 VP
1 x Noval 2003 LBV

[Espen S.]

2005 Niepoort LBV
2003 Graham LBV

[Sebastian T]

(half bottles:)
1x Vista Alegre Over 40 Years Old Tawny at about 55,90 $ (399 SEK)
3x Vista Alegre 30 year old tawny at about 41,33 $ apiece (295 SEK)

Does anyone know for long I dare save these? (of course you do ) Not that I would mind being forced to open them up sooner rather than later, but it would be nice if they don't pass their prime before at least a year or two.

Nice bottles, and great prices!

How long you can save them depends on when they were bottled. Conventional wisdom says that tawnies should be drunk within a year or two of bottling. I don't agree with that, and in fact I have had many tawnies that had been in their bottles for over 10 years. I've had some that have been bottled for over 30 years!

Tawnies do change over time in the bottle. Some people claim that this change is always for the worse. I disagree. In some cases tawnies - especially Colheitas - can improve with bottle age. But just as with Vintage Port, there is a bit of a cycle to that aging.

You know how VP sort of goes into a funk and closes down after a few years in bottle, then 10 or 15 years later opens up again? The same thing happens to tawnies as they age, except (in my experience) slightly faster. For me, tawnies seem to go into their funk about 3-5 years after being bottled and typically come out of it at about 8-12 years. But each bottle is different, so it is difficult to tell exactly how each one will perform.

So if I were you, I'd drink those within 3 years of their bottling date if possible. If not... then hang onto them for a decade before you open them. The middle years just aren't as interesting.

I kinda hoped/thought you were going to answer Glenn, I've got the feeling you are the expert on tawnies here

They are bottled in 2007, so my time is about to run out? maybe I'll drink one or two of the 30 year olds pretty soon (my brother turns 30 next week so that would be a perfect time to open one of them, even though i havn't got him truly hooked on port... yet ) and the 40 year one and save the rest for ten years?
The thought of ageing tawnies interests me, so this raises the question: do i buy more of the over 40 year old (the only one of these two ports left in stock) solely for the purpose to storage it for the future..

[Glenn E.]

I kinda hoped/thought you were going to answer Glenn, I've got the feeling you are the expert on tawnies here

Haha... well I don't know about that. I don't have enough experience with Port to really be called an expert about any of it. I just tend to prefer tawnies over rubies, so I'm a little more passionate about them than others here. Seems like I learn something new about them every time I open a bottle!

They are bottled in 2007, so my time is about to run out? maybe I'll drink one or two of the 30 year olds pretty soon (my brother turns 30 next week so that would be a perfect time to open one of them, even though i havn't got him truly hooked on port... yet ) and the 40 year one and save the rest for ten years?

Well as with any rule of thumb, there are exceptions. Lots of exceptions! I use 3-5 years as a guide, but for whatever reason older blends (30y and 40y) seem to stay fresher for a little while longer. Maybe an extra year? It's hard to say. I suppose you could say that the older blends don't have quite the same "freshness" in their flavor profile to start with, so that freshness disappearing isn't the first sign of funkiness like it is in a 20y (or Colheita of similar age).

I have a mixed case of 40y Ports that were bottled in 2006 and 2007 and so far they all seem to be doing fine. But I'm going to start keeping a close eye on them and see what happens over the next year or two. Assuming any of them last that long!

The thought of ageing tawnies interests me, so this raises the question: do i buy more of the over 40 year old (the only one of these two ports left in stock) solely for the purpose to storage it for the future..

If you can get a good price on them, and you think you'll have the patience to wait, then I think you'd enjoy the experiment. That's one nice thing about the blends - they're blended to taste the same year after year. So 10 years from now you should be able to buy a freshly bottled bottle and open it with one of your aged bottles so that you can see what has changed!

I hope to do that with some of my 40y bottles, too. We'll have to compare notes in 10 years!

[Peter W. Meek]

1 x 2003 Broadbent VP @ $40 (from WTSO; started at 1:30 PM eastern)

[Derek T.]

Great stuff Derek! It's especially hard to get pre 97 vintages in Norway, and I am very interested in filling my huge pre 97 "gap".
Norwegians are now alowed to import wine, only trouble is the alcohol tax + shipping cost + VAT. Can your local "pusher" give a UK tax refund when exporting?

I have not had a response from them yet buy I am expecting that if you buy cases that are "In Bond" you will not have to pay any UK duty or taxes on your purchase. I know that this is how it works for the guys who buy in the UK and ship to the USA. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way of avoiding your local taxes - unless you pick them up in your longboat

[Sebastian T]

The thought of ageing tawnies interests me, so this raises the question: do i buy more of the over 40 year old (the only one of these two ports left in stock) solely for the purpose to storage it for the future..

If you can get a good price on them, and you think you'll have the patience to wait, then I think you'd enjoy the experiment. That's one nice thing about the blends - they're blended to taste the same year after year. So 10 years from now you should be able to buy a freshly bottled bottle and open it with one of your aged bottles so that you can see what has changed!

I hope to do that with some of my 40y bottles, too. We'll have to compare notes in 10 years!

The price is the same til it goes out of stock, Systembolaget is the Swedish alcohol retail monopoly, and aren't profit-driven. And patience I have, ten years is nothing, compared to the vp's in storage. For me watching them age is, well, something like this -->


So i'll do that, and gladly compare the notes in a decade. I want to learn, taste and try everything

[Lamont Huxley]

2 x Warre's 2003 VP

[Espen S.]

2000 Sandeman Vau Vintage.. and another 10 year old Tawny by Niepoort.

[Derek T.]

Great stuff Derek! It's especially hard to get pre 97 vintages in Norway, and I am very interested in filling my huge pre 97 "gap".
Norwegians are now alowed to import wine, only trouble is the alcohol tax + shipping cost + VAT. Can your local "pusher" give a UK tax refund when exporting?

I have not had a response from them yet buy I am expecting that if you buy cases that are "In Bond" you will not have to pay any UK duty or taxes on your purchase. I know that this is how it works for the guys who buy in the UK and ship to the USA. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a way of avoiding your local taxes - unless you pick them up in your longboat

Thomas/Espen,

I have a quote for a case of 6 bottles of Vesuvio 2000 at £174 (GBP) plus £100 delivery to Oslo. On delivery you would have to pay your local duty/taxes. I have no idea whether or not that represents good value. I suspect that larger quantities would generate better value from the shipping costs.

If you are interested in pursuing this please PM me and I will put you in touch with the supplier.

Derek

[Eric Menchen]

You can fly Ryanair Oslo->London->Oslo for 50 NOK right now, plus a small admin fee (£5 I think). But their baggage fees are ridiculous. The first 15kg bag is £15, the second 15kg bag is £35. I suppose you could only have baggage on the return trip

[Sebastian T]

I am right now on my way home with 4 bottles of 1994 Quinta Do Vesuvio vp, at about 112 $ each (or 799 SEK to be precise)
Also i wanted to order in niepoort 10 year tawny but they were out
Hopefully comes back in stock some day

[David Spriggs]

I am right now on my way home with 4 bottles of 1994 Quinta Do Vesuvio vp, at about 112 $ each (or 799 SEK to be precise)
Also i wanted to order in niepoort 10 year tawny but they were out
Hopefully comes back in stock some day

Wow... $112! That's some serious money. Fantastic Port though. It's drinking amazingly well right now.

[Andy Velebil]

I am right now on my way home with 4 bottles of 1994 Quinta Do Vesuvio vp, at about 112 $ each (or 799 SEK to be precise)
Also i wanted to order in niepoort 10 year tawny but they were out
Hopefully comes back in stock some day

Wow... $112! That's some serious money. Fantastic Port though. It's drinking amazingly well right now.

Not really, they are about $90-95 here in the USA.