Personal Port Consumption vs. Procurement

[Roy Hersh]

Over the past 12 months ... have you purchased or consumed more Port?

What about over the past 3 years combined?

What conclusions do you draw from your first two responses?

[Gary Richardson]

I have definitely purchased more Port than consumed since I began consuming and purchasing as measured in any time period. Without a lengthy analysis of my habits, I am going to estimate I purchase 3 bottles for each one I consume. It is interesting that the number of posts in the "What have you opened this week?" topic is 767 compared to 1262 posts in the "What Port(s) have you purchased this week?" A completely unscientific conclusion would be that regular posters on this forum purchase 1 & 2/3 bottles for each one opened. And yes, I realize all of the errors in this conclusion ... I just find it to be an interesting data point.

My wife's conclusion based on these responses: That I have a Port problem (purchasing, not consuming... but I am working on the consumption side of that.)

My conclusion: I am still in collecting mode for my retirement. The goal is to have enough Port by the time I retire to simply drink my stocks. But I know I will always seek out the rare, wonderful and values no matter what age I may be.

-- Gary

[Carl D]

Purchased way more than consumed over the past year or the past three years. What would I conclude? That we only recently started drinking Port (in any quantity)!

[Moses Botbol]

I know for sure this year I have bought a lot more port than I have drank. Last year I was probably even or consumed more. Most of the port I consume hasn't been from my "collection" in the last two years. It is a tawny or LBV I bought just for the evening at hand. I haven't had many port events (last two years) where I plan ahead with proper vintage and decanting. Most are spur of the moment and pop and pour...

[Frederick Blais]

I always buy more than I drink. Port and wine...

Concerning Port, I don't have many friends that do like to drink it and often at the end of the night were we tend to taste Port, too many wines have been poured...

and I'm always saying, I won't buy this vintage because I will not be old enough to drink it.... but I still buy :)

[Eric Menchen]

My conclusion: I am still in collecting mode for my retirement. The goal is to have enough Port by the time I retire to simply drink my stocks. But I know I will always seek out the rare, wonderful and values no matter what age I may be.

+1

Last 3 months - consumed more than procured, possibly. Waiting to build the cellar.
Last 12 months - procured more than consumed.
Last 3 year - Yikes!

[Al B.]

I'm the same. Over the last 3 months, or 1 year, or 3 years I have bought more wine (90% port) than I have consumed. My plan is to have enough stock to be able to drink mature port for the rest of my life with only the addition of a case or two every time there is a declared vintage. My balance of procurement was quite a large surplus in 2009 and 2010 but cut down by 55% in 2011. I anticipate that in 2012 I will acquire around 4 cases more than I drink during the year - and that's only because I can't resist a bargain!

[Peter W. Meek]

Over the past three years It's about even - because I bought a lot of port for aging (which will be aged properly long after I am likely to be around - what was I thinking?) as well as taking advantage of some good deals on drink-now tawnies.

Recently, I have consumed more. (I got well ahead on on Ferreira 20 a year or so ago, and have been going through it pretty steadily. 13 bottles left, and no new great deals on the horizon.)

Oh yeah - - I still have one bottle of (fading) Nimrod. (I opened the second-to-last a month ago, and it was disappointing. Not nearly up to its original standard as a freshly-bottled tawny.)

[Andy Velebil]

I know the past year consumption has outpaced buying, as I haven't been buying much lately. That was mainly due to several reasons, house remodel, trips to Portugal, and running out of storage space. Plus it was time to do a little cellar cleaning of various things. So the timing has worked out well in this regard. I've still got a bit to reduce down so my buying will still be lower for a little while longer. I should add, this is true not only of Port in my cellar but dry wines as well too.

[Marc J.]

I know for sure this year I have bought a lot more port than I have drank. Last year I was probably even or consumed more. Most of the port I consume hasn't been from my "collection" in the last two years. It is a tawny or LBV I bought just for the evening at hand. I haven't had many port events (last two years) where I plan ahead with proper vintage and decanting. Most are spur of the moment and pop and pour...

+1

Without a doubt my purchases have far outpaced my consumption. Like Moses, most of my consumption have been last minute purchases that I picked up on the spur of the moment.

[Paul Fountain]

It is only about 2 years since I started my collection, so my Procurement has definitely outstripped my consumption. I'm only opening up a VP or 20 year old tawny a few times a year at the moment and tend to drink LBVs or other fortifieds on a regular basis.

[Derek T.]

I don't keep comprehensive records of what I buy and drink but I do know that my off-site storage costs increase significantly every year and my home storage remains fairly static, so I can only assume that I am buying more than I drink.