Can anyone put a price on this vintage ?

[Jan H]

Hello All.
Years ago, my Dad bought about 20 bottles of a vintage port.
Unfortunately I cannot post a photo, but it’s a green bottle.
No label, but in tough white paint, it says :

PORTO
COLHEITA
1912
ENVELHECIDO EM CASCO

NIEPOORT & CaLda
PORTO – PORTUGAL

Also, molded into the bottle at the neck, front and back it says Niepoort. In a sort of handwriting style.
On the right it says PORTUGAL and on the left it says PORTO.

There is part of a label on the back of the bottle, obviously the Niepoort Logo.

Anyway, it is an incredibly “Thick” fluid, and it tastes like no other port I have ever tasted.
Not sure how many he has got through over the years, but I have helped him through two bottles, on separate occasions.

Does anyone recognize this? Also, any idea as to how much a bottle would cost today?
Thanks in advance.

[Eric Menchen]

Well, technically that isn't a "Vintage Port" as the term is commonly used, but a colheita from the 1912 vintage. I and many others around here would love to try such a bottle. But the key thing in determining its value is the bottling year, as colheitas are not intended to be aged in the bottle. I'll avoid the argument about whether they get better or worse with age, but posit that the retail value of a colheita from a given vintage is inversely proportional to time after bottling. If the bottle doesn't have a bottling date, can you give us a better idea of when "years ago" was? While not reliable, that might give us a ballpark for bottling year. I haven't watched auctions for 1912 colheitas, but retails listings range from $500 to $1500.

If you could post photos, that might help.

Where is Simon these days? He was after 1912 VP for a while, and might have a better idea what the colheitas are worth.

[Jan H]

OK With some help here we go.




Well that seemed to work ok, hope this helps
thanks again
I will have to get back to you, on when the bottles were bought.
OK got it. Dad got it through Skjold Burne Distributors in Denmark, in 1975

[Moses Botbol]

Does not look like it was bottle a real long time ago. I bet that was a fantastic port. I wonder if it was bottled in 60's? Roy may know better. Either way, it has to be worth at least $350+ a bottle; a lot more if the condition is great.

Niepoort is one house that has said Colheitas can improve in the bottle and they make a nice product. Not a ton of 1912 comes around and pricing is different between auction and retail markets.

You are fortunate to have already drank a couple of bottles!

[Andy Velebil]

It's a 1912 Niepoort Colheita Port. Most likely bottled around the mid to late 1970's, as it seems a number of their older colheita's were bottled around that time frame. It should have a small back label with red lettering on it, that red lettering should have the year it was bottled in it. Can you post a picture of the back label as well?

[Jan H]

OK I was trying to save space so I just edited the bottle pic.
I am useless with the digital stuff but yes Dad said he bought it through Skjold Burne distributors in Denmark in 1975.
OK the back label, is about the size of a current business card sideways:Sort of a relief black and white head and shoulders ,of a man holding a glass of port
(in RED) to his lips/ nose.
Ok there is a bit missing but in RED, diagonally across the black writing, it says :

ENGARRAFADO
Mil ( missing ) setenta quatro.

OK even with my mediocre Spanish, It has to mean bottled in 1974 .But I will take the Empty bottle into town & see if my mate can take a picture of the label on the back, just so you can see.
Dad recons he has about 12 bottles left. He has never ever mentioned selling any, but when we drank the bottle I am holding in the picture, He did just say, in wonderment of the light shining through the port in his raised glass, I wonder how much a bottle of this stuff is worth today? Cheers !

So then, I went looking for Port Forums to ask, and yes there are a lot out there, but not with the huge membership of this one.
Thanks for your prompt responses, I will do my best to get a photograph of the paper label on the back.
Thanks Again
Jan.

[Glenn E.]

Looks like you have the bottling date figured out at this point, well done!

I agree with Moses on the value - it's probably in the $350 to $400 range at auction. It might be higher at retail. It's also probably very tasty - I'm jealous that you and your father have a case of it left to drink!

[Roy Hersh]

I have only had this a couple of times. The first time was actually the first Colheita I ever remember trying, which is mentioned in the TN below.

The most recent was a bottle at my 50th birthday which several people from attended. Here was my TN from that experience, which was only one of 30 Colheitas we had that weekend:

1912 Niepoort Colheita Port
This brings back a fond memory of a long lost friend, Paul Napolitano from NY. He once opened this identical Port for me years ago at his home and at the time, it was the greatest Colheita I had experienced, as well as the oldest. This one was bottled in 1976 or '77. A piece is torn off the label and makes it impossible to be certain. Dark coffee color with a greenish edge. Is this a Madeira? Bouillon cube, scents of sea breeze and toffee. The nose reminds me of a Malvasia and the richness and supple spine live up to that mindset. The palate is packed with copious caramel and fig flavors along with prunes and toffee intricately woven into a neat little package. Intense unctuous layers unfold into one of the most decadent Colheitas of the weekend. I love this one and the finish is absolutely sick. How can anyone question if these get better in the bottle?
97 Points (2007-07-01)

[Eric Menchen]

At retail this might fetch more than $500, but given the early 1970s bottling, that is a good ballpark figure. I found a 1973 bottling listed around that price.

[Jan H]

Thanks, All of you that wrote answers.
I felt like a bit of an idiot, when I had to tell my Dad that he had been Scammed,
Thanks to your knowledgeable answers.
We would have never thought about trying to work out the label, back then.
Anyway, when I told dad that the bottles were fake, and filled with something from 1974.
He just laughed, and said " After so many years, who cares, it still tastes nice"

Thanks for all your help.

[Glenn E.]

Jan, that's not a fake - that's how Colheitas are produced.

The grapes were harvested in 1912. They were made into Port and put into oak casks called pipes which hold about 550 liters each. The Port aged in those oak casks until the Port was bottled, which as near as we can tell was in 1974. So it was 62 years old when it was bottled! Since then, it has been aging in bottle and so now has another 36 years of bottle age.

That's a fairly normal process for Colheita Ports, and as you have seen it makes for some very good wines!

[Eric Menchen]

No, not scammed at all! And you know you're invited to bring one of those to our next tasting, right?

[Jan H]

OK, thanks for all the help & explanations, much appreciated. will try to get a photo of the rear label today.

[Eric Ifune]

Jan, that's not a fake - that's how Colheitas are produced.

The grapes were harvested in 1912. They were made into Port and put into oak casks called pipes which hold about 550 liters each. The Port aged in those oak casks until the Port was bottled, which as near as we can tell was in 1974. So it was 62 years old when it was bottled! Since then, it has been aging in bottle and so now has another 36 years of bottle age.

That's a fairly normal process for Colheita Ports, and as you have seen it makes for some very good wines!

And a few of us like them even more than the true Vintage Ports!

[Russ K]

Jan, if you like I will take your $6K worth of 1912 and trade you for a case of something from 1974....you and Dad are very lucky to have that treasure trove...

[Jan H]

OK finally got the e stuff sorted.

lets see if that worked.

[Russ K]

pretty much as we all expected. so you have 12 bottles at roughly $500 a bottle, for a $6000 case of wine.