Have you, or do you plan to buy any 2003 Vintage Ports?

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:09 pm

Age is certainly a factor when considering purchases of a new declared Vintage Port. Price and availability also weigh into the purchasing decision, along with room in the cellar or offsite storage facility. Having tasted through many, and of course you have seen my TNs here on FTLOP, what are your thoughts?

Frederick Blais · Post by **Frederick Blais** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 8:21 pm

As for the wines I start buying wines I like year after year even if they do not score 95+ with the critics.

My top 3 are
Vesuvio
Noval
Niepoort

I'll definitively buy some of these but with smaller quantities
Graham
Taylor
Fonseca
Croft
Smith Woodhouse
Pocas I like what they are doing recently
Quinta do Vale Maria if some are available here, the 99 is very good from a difficult vintage and no 2000 made it to Quebec

Loves a lot warre's in its youth but less as it mature and the inverse with Dow's so I'll probably buy one of each to continue verticals
And for the price of 1 Nacional I can buy a case of Vargellas Vinha Velha(3 bottles) so I'll invest on that and hope its fulfill its destiny to be the next cult Port.

As for the age, I'm 26 and I'm already looking to slow how much young Port I buy. I like them mature, 20+ years. Buying En Primeur is definitively a good way to assure that I won't pay high prices in 20 years, that I'm going to drink the bottle I like and that I won't have to search too hard to find mature port that I like.

Can't wait to have a sip of these young VP. For us in Quebec, there is no "En Primeur" for Port but we can start placing order in 2 weeks from hour neighbour province liquor board. The LCBO from Ontario, normally their prices are at least 10% lower than Quebec.

Jay Woodruff · Post by **Jay Woodruff** » Mon Aug 01, 2005 10:09 pm

So far there are many I would like for which I have not located a vendor as yet. Even so, I have already purchased some pre-arrival such as Fonseca, Vesuvio, Taylor, and Grahams. Would like to add Niepoort and some others but need to see them available first.
Have also been buying some older vintages but these were just the 2003's above. At 34 I think I can still purchase the new vintages, but like to backfill as well when available. Even so, I doubt I'll even completely stop buying new vintages; may just slow. :)

Jay.

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 12:42 am

I tend to buy a case or two en primeur with every declaration. Usually a 6 bottle case of Taylor's, 6 bottles of Fonseca and 12 of Vesuvio (I have a nice vertical of Vesuvio from 1989 onwards) but I do realise that at the age of 41 I am buying wines that may be enjoyed by my children as much as by me - but that's OK with me. If I can teach them to enjoy VP and to appreciate it for what it is then I am happy to be buying for them.

In addition to this, I tend to buy older vintages when the opportunity arises for current drinking.

It must be one of life's great ironies that when you can afford to buy VP in reasonable quantities then the VP you buy will probably outlive you!

xxxMonique Heinemans · Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 am

Hello,
Although I'm 45 I keep buying new arrivals and already bought some VP's on primeur.
From these houses 6: Niepoort, Vesuvio, Gould Campbell. Croft 2 bt.
I might buy some Noval and/or Q do Portal later on.
I don't know if I will live long enough (I tend to become 100

) to enjoy them all, but who lives then, cares then. Hope my (grand)children will enjoy them as much as I do.

Ronald Wortel · Post by **Ronald Wortel** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:27 am

I have already bought some Fonseca in futures, and will likely add Pintas and Niepoort (which is always a favorite) to that.
Those will probably be the only ones bought by the case, but I'm sure that smaller quantities of lots and lots of others will be bought...

nicos neocleous · Post by **nicos neocleous** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 5:45 am

Roy,

My first post on this wonderful site!

So far I have bought 2003 Fonseca & Taylor. I am looking to add a few more in the future. The flipside is that I can buy mature/nearly mature Port from the 1970s/1980's for the same or less, according to producer. It makes buying Port now a question of how much you want to drink now.

Best wishes,
Nicos

Steve Saxon · Post by **Steve Saxon** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:17 am

I've ordered the Quinta Do Vesuvio and the Fonseca. I might pick up a couple bottle of the Croft, but really there is no point in buying to many of these since they won't be ready for a decade or more.

mwaters · Post by **mwaters** » Tue Aug 02, 2005 9:52 am

I've only been into VP for less than a year. I've tasted 12-15 bottles but not nearly enough to have favorites picked out. I base my purchases on TNs from WineSpectator and now will add Roy's tns into the mix. I find the forums very helpful as well.

At 28 I can afford to let these sit for a while though I have enjoyed many young. Whatever I purchase I'll be sure to open one of each and the let the others sit.

So far I'm looking at Croft, Niepoort, Taylor and Vesuvio but the futures price will determine where I go with my money.

I enjoyed Pocas' 2000 VP and it was a great value but I don't think it's worth buying on futures.

Paul David · Post by **Paul David** » Wed Aug 03, 2005 12:42 pm

I'm 46 years old. All the port I would like to drink has already been bottled. That is not to say that it isn't fun to try the new vintage but as far as buying strategy it seems that there is lots of port avilable for purchase from the 80's and onwards that is absolutly a bargin when compared to the price of new releases. So for my $ my strategy is simple: Good deals on older vintages and new releases of LBV

jbmcconnell · Post by **jbmcconnell** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 5:10 am

I'm like Paul (also 46) and am focusing my buying on older ports with some limited purchases for my two daughters (or me if they decide they don't like port)

Jeff

Paul David · Post by **Paul David** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 7:37 am

Hey Jeff, better be carefull! by the time the port is ready to drink there may be some dirty old men looking for your doughters

Since I don't have kids I plan on drinking mine myself, though there's always someone around to help with an open bottle so I'm not too worried :twisted: PMD

Eric LeVine · Post by **Eric LeVine** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 10:05 am

So far I have only purchased 6 bottles of Quinta do Noval. I'm not sure that I will buy any others. Even at age 35 there is just so much other great stuff out there with more age.

Eddie · Post by **Eddie** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 5:31 pm

I plan to purchase some Fonseca & possibly some Noval. I have tons of 97 and 2000's so I don't need a whole lot more right now.

Alan Rath · Post by **Alan Rath** » Thu Aug 04, 2005 8:38 pm

I've bought 3-4 bottles of several ports: Croft, Fonseca, Niepoort, Noval, and Vesuvio. Unless I see some reasonable discounts on futures, I'll now be waiting to taste for myself when the wines are released, and hope the prices remain at or below where they are. The 2000s did this, although I do understand Roy's point that production is down in 2003. I have a theory that here in the U.S., the 2000 vintage sold pretty well because the memory of the twin Spectator 94 WOTY was still relatively fresh in people's minds. That's now long forgotten, and Port may not have quite the luster it did then, as a result of that publicity. If Peter Finkelstein's (another thread) observation that retailers aren't buying up much 2003 stock is generally correct, there may be some slop in the market even with reduced production. I've bought what I know I want, and from here I'll be looking for bargains, or buying things that blow me away when I finally get a chance to taste.

Cheers,
Alan

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 12:53 am

Alan,

No disrespect for Peter (who is a good friend of mine and a serious Port enthusiast) but he is commenting on what one salesman in No. Maryland had to say about that specific market. Let's not generalize or broaden the scope of THAT remark.

Even so, if there is price resistance to the 2003s and the Port producers & shippers have misjudged the market (or at least their importers who do the actual pricing here in the USA) then it is a possibility there will be deals in the future. My contrary thinking is that there is not a lot of this juice around, and the USA is not the only market. Time will tell and I bought "cautiously" from similar names that you mentioned, in a buy now at first tranch pricing to lock in the "must have VPs) and see later, about adding more at potentially higher (or lower) pricing.

As Eric mentioned, there are lots of great deals out there and within the week, I am going to put one heck of a Port steal of a deal on a number of wines on the Port & Madeira Marketplace Forum here! Watch carefully, some of these are going to be stunning. 8)

Harris Ueng · Post by **Harris Ueng** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 1:19 am

I've thrown in for some Fonseca and Croft to cellar, but am saving most of my share of wallet to purchase some drinkable bottles for when I want to consume them. Doing the numbers, I'll probably not dive in deep into VP's, but instead, pay a bit more for some really nice old VP's. (I think I'm just a bit too impatient...

)

Justin Willott · Post by **Justin Willott** » Fri Aug 05, 2005 4:51 am

As my daughter was born in 2003, I am buying VP for me and her so have bought Dow, Croft, Fonseca, Niepoort, Noval, Vesuvio and Portal. The Portal is available in the UK for £80 for 6 bottles and has been scored very highly by all the critics!

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 6:54 pm

With all of the really nice Ports out there in 2003, I am really surprised, everyone seems to be just picking at the top of the heap and paying the prices I have heard complaints about.

I thought I would be reading that many of you were going to pick some of the wines in the 90-95 point range that are fantastic and will represent some very fine buys. Dow's comes to mind immediately, which I reated 96+ and was a killer wine. Additionally, there is no reason not to put some of the top performers in the cellar and laugh all the way to the bank:

Quinta do Tedo, Warre, Osborne, Graham, Cockburn's, Pintas, Quinta do Vale Dona Maria, Smith Woodhouse.

Picking one less obvious name out of the above list .... Osborne, I bet this will see for half of most of the wines you folks mentioned. Is it half as good? No way! Again, this is just one example of what could be either bought now and consumed as a great value while enjoying the mind blowing fruit of a new vintage OR put this away for the long haul. THIS is the strategy that I hope some of you will employ. Sure, everybody loves the big names and I am no exception. But it is the producers who have made excellent wines in 2003 like the handful mentioned above, that will reward those of you with the foresight to seek them out.

Jay Woodruff · Post by **Jay Woodruff** » Sun Aug 07, 2005 9:32 pm

I would love to pick up some of the QPR steals but distribution is sometimes an issue.

I have seen Pocas and a few others in my area but for the most part, even online, I see te major houses well represented. Portal? Where can I get this?

For The Love Of Port

Have you, or do you plan to buy any 2003 Vintage Ports?

Have you, or do you plan to buy any 2003 Vintage Ports?

Age and VP buying

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