For The Love Of Port

To gain further insight into exactly what is happening within the Port trade, or better stated ... the marketplace for Port; have a look at the following two charts that can be accessed by the same link below:

Make sure to select your language of choice ...

a. Volume of Port Sold in 2006 delineated by country (January - April)
b. Value of Port Sold in 2006, delineated by country (January - April)
http://www.ivdp.pt/pagina.asp?codPag=73 ... 6&idioma=1


Opinion is reserved until others have had the opportunity to study what's taking place.

There's quite a lot of interesting data on the IVDP site - the price data is quite revealing - particularly for VP

The data on these links does not contain many surprises.

One should not read too much into the individual country quantity changes - particularly the small ones - for example, if a couple of 40ft containers were shipped to Finland on April 30th last year, but left on May 1st this year, then that would account for the change seen in the stats.

Some quite mundane factors can account for some of the other variations - I am not sure when Tesco in the UK launched their own brand premium ports, including VP (actually Quarles Harris '95) - but that may account for the upsurge in own brands and premium ports here.

The shipping of the 2003 vintage is of course a factor in the stats.

The overall decline of 1.3% amounts to about thirty 40ft containers, which is well within the variation that could result from the sailing schedules of container ships.

Annual figures will be more informative.

What I have looked for, but can't find, is a breakdown of the volumes sent by individual shippers to each country.

The data must exist, otherwise it would not be possible to compile the data that is published on the IVDP site.

Does anyone know if this data is in the public domain?

Tom

Another statistic that I would be interested in seeing is the mark-up applied by distributors and retailers to the actual price charged by the shippers on release of new VP. Does anyone who has this information care to share?

Derek

Tom,
Does anyone know if this data is in the public domain?

I was given this information last year by the Symington's, and from my understanding, it is NOT in the public domain. I am not sure that competing companies even know "exactly" what is shipped by the other companies within the trade, although it can't be that difficult to figure out. Of course the IVDP is apprised. It occasionally leaks out by journalists, but it is rare and usually is specific to a particular producer they've heard from. I do not believe that the IVDP would divulge that information ... unless there is some agreement between competitors that I am unaware of.


Derek,

There is no pre-set formala for this. Importers all work on different margins. Distributors and retailers as well. I can tell you what is somewhat typical here though ... at best it is a loose rule of thumb:
Distributors 25%-35% and retailers between 25%-40%. That does not include importers. So you get the picture. When folks blame the Port trade for increases in prices say, between 2000 and 2003 vintages ... it often has nothing to do with them. For the record, a few of the largest Port producers went "on the record" with their increases between those two vintages and they were only 3-5%. So now you understand the rest of the picture!

The scale of the mark-ups Roy mentions looks credible - even modest!

What puzzles me is the reluctance to cut these middle men out of the equation.

I've not seen any evidence of the quintas or shippers attempting to retail direct, and the prices demanded in the lodges are way above the retail price back home.

The quality wine trade is horribly old-fashioned and inefficient, with too many middle men in the supply chain.

It needs to change.

Tom

Tom,

Amen to changing the status quo of the "tiered" system that is now in place. It will take a major coup by the wine trade here, enacted by the US Supreme Court in order for that to happen within our borders. I hope it is an easier course there in the UK. But let's not slide down that slippery slope as that topic can be found ad nauseum on other wine bulletin boards.

Although in some ways it is frustrating for visitors to find prices so relatively high in the Lodges in Gaia, the vast majority of the producers feel they must support their distributors in other countries where their product is sold ... so that those companies are not undermined by retail sales ex-cellars. There are only one or two exceptions where relative bargains may be found, as you know.

I hope that someday, buying Port in Portugal is made much more affordable and then easier to transport back home. :help: