For The Love Of Port

I know we have discussed this before, but it seems over the last two years since the forum was first started that many of us have evolved in our views of our vinous ambitions. We also have a lot of new contributors to the forum who may have very different views on life.

So, stimulated by Tom's recent posting on his ambitions for his cellar, my question to you all is "What are you trying to achieve with your buying strategy?"

The answer from me is simple. I would like to be able to drink a bottle of Vintage Port or top class LBV every week for the rest of my life and for special occasions. This will be a mixture of young and old VPs and will be drawn from a mixture of my cellar and current buying around the time I drink. I also want to be able to give my children and godchildren a case of port from the year of their birth on the celebration of their 21st birthdays.

It is also my ambition that I will have a decent cellar that I will leave to my children after my demise. At the moment my 13 year old daughter shows no interest in port, but my 11 year old son is developing a very respectable palate and will take a sip or two from my glass and decide whether he likes it as much as the last one or not. As of today, his favourite is a Taylor 1980.

However, like Tom I am determined that what remains of my cellar is not dispersed or wasted after my death. Instead, my cellar is given to a trustee who will run it down by drawing wines out of it on the request of my children (or wife, if she survives me) to be used for more or less immediate consumption. The thought that terrifies me is that one night a drunken teenage party finds that there is no quaffing plonk left and as a result they raid the cellar and glug their way unappreciatively through goodness what wines. The purpose of using a trustee is to get the wines somewhere they are available, but not instantly available.

So what other objectives or ambitions to people have for their cellars?

Alex

I certainly go along with the trustee notion.

However it is quite difficult to draw up a trust document that does not include a provision for the winding up of the trust. If you attempt to do so, the validity of the document is vulnerable to legal challenge.

My solution will be to provide that if the trust cannot be maintained, the whole cellar is to be handed over to a reliably undeserving cause - the Chancellor of the Exchequer perhaps... Hopefully that would persuade the trustees to keep the trust going!

My objectives include an ambition to maintain a mean bottle age of 30 years, the ability to draw a century+ old bottle every year, and to amass 400 different wines in the cellar.

These objectives will take a few years to achieve!

Tom

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

With apologies to Robert Burns.

I didn't know Robert Burns had cellar management issues :? :? :?

Rabbie could often be found not quite managing to extracate himself from a cellar.

I have already stated that I don't intend to die so I will be drinking it all. I want to drink it when it is ready - that's the whole point. I hate buying avacadoes, as I want them for that day and not wait five days for them to be ready to turn into guacamole. Trouble with avacadoes is that one day after they are ready they are passed it. I have a slightly more tolerant window with wines.

My hands are tied .
Living in a condo , my space is limited and temperature & humidity control would be better in the hands of a small cellar ( 12 to 18 bottles )

Tanker - don't buy that small a unit, they are ridiculously bad value and karma. I'm sure you could find room for a 50 bottle unit somewhere, even a ton. You know you want to.

Look at the V083 - http://www.eurocave.com/wine-cellar/win ... ooling.htm

KillerB ,
just checked the web site and asked for more info .
Merci !!

Prego - bugger, wrong language again.

Thanks for the heads-up on that KillerB... that looks decent. I'll look into that along with one of their cooler-racks for perhaps - upstairs!

Todd

And now back onto topic... :)

Alex Bridgeman wrote:So, stimulated by Tom's recent posting on his ambitions for his cellar, my question to you all is "What are you trying to achieve with your buying strategy?"

This is a great question and being that I am looking into building myself a proper cellar in my basement, a timely topic...

Alex Bridgeman wrote:The answer from me is simple. I would like to be able to drink a bottle of Vintage Port or top class LBV every week for the rest of my life and for special occasions. This will be a mixture of young and old VPs and will be drawn from a mixture of my cellar and current buying around the time I drink.

This is a fine idea! I never really considered the rate of consumption that I was planning on. Now that you have mentioned it here (and I read an post by Roy on a relatively similar topic regarding rate of growth vs consumption) I will have to analyse that question and consider an answer that will work for me.

My cellar expansion is limited by another very expensive hobby, which is doing Triathlon, particularly Ironman triathlon, which takes a good bit of training, commitment, time and money. Race season in particular (which is fast approaching) means one must limit one's consumption of all things alcoholic for a few months if one expects to do his best at these types of things, but that is balanced off by the many hours of training so that one can afford to consume the odd bit of Port during race season and in particular, the off-season. I know this will garner comments from at LEAST Alan C (bring'em on bud, I'm ready!!!) but the triathlon thing will likely be around for a few years or decades, perhaps as long as the case of Roriz 2003 that is being purchased for my son, so that I may keep somewhat a form of optimal health (which just allows me to enjoy the port for many more years!!!)

Alex Bridgeman wrote:I also want to be able to give my children and godchildren a case of port from the year of their birth on the celebration of their 21st birthdays.

I have this ambition as well. My son will be getting 3 cases (one Roriz, one Taylor and one mixed case of either 2x6 producers or 3x4 producers) all from 2003.
My daughter will get three as well, but being born in 2005 may limit the selection to SQVPs in a non-declared year. The cellar itself will be theirs to disperse with as they see fit, but I see my purchasing habits slowing as I age. It also depends on whether my kids develop a liking for the sweet nectar of the gods. If not, the port purchases will slow considerably as I reach into my 70s and 80s (here's hoping!!!) If not, I can imagine I'll still spend a goodly amount in the pursuits of leaving behind a legacy for them.

Todd

My buying strategy is to increase my holdings of top notch Douro wines, stop buying CA wines except the occasional Pinot and even less Cab and only Ridge Zins.

Forget about buying any Burgundy except when I need to attend an event where I don't own something that fits. Fill in another dozen or two Bdx. from 1983/1989/1990. Keep my hands off my 1998 and younger Rhone wines. Drink down my South African wine section, stop buying Spanish wines except Priorats and no more Aussie at all. Find some excellent 1990 vintage Champagne and buy a couple of cases and drink up older Amarone and fill in with 1997 and younger vintages.

As to Port, hmmm. Don't buy more than a case of any vintage to be released, all of which will go to Taylor upon my demise along with anything post-1997, as I don't think I'll ever get to drink 'em. Taste in the next two years, anything in my collection where there are multiple bottles but I've never opened one before. Buy 1977 Taylor, 1985 Fonseca and Dow 1980 anytime they are available at a good price with excellent provenance. Purchase a few more well aged pre-1950s VPs.

Make sure to have a minimum of 15 cases for Taylor's consumption after I leave this planet.

some random ambitions for this man's cellar:


acquire cases of some of my favorite recent conquests--1996 pichon lalande, 1996 lynch bages, 1985 heitz marthas vineyard, 2003 sea smoke pinot noir,

acquire more 1970 taylors, fonseca, grahams and finally get an entire case of 91 croft

more mags

acquire several more birth year ports from 1955. i've got a taylors and a grahams, i'd like one from each of the top tier producers--my list of top tier producers, not roy's and his sandeman clunkers :)

as i've said in a previous post, i'm 52, i've got a few more great drinking years left in me, but i'm looking for wines that will be at their optimum drinking peak from now-2020. i'm not purchasing any 2003 ports, 2003 or 2005 bordeaux, as they won't be ready when i'm ready!

dave

Todd,

I didn't want to disappoint you, and looked long and hard at my sarcasm/humour files, but nothing!
I mostly agree with you. I've got 4 kids and Deb has 3, I love Sport, particularly golf and watching Football and Rugby. I have all the latest Golf gear, when you account for the equipment,the Club fees, and my account behind that bar alone, just on drinks, coming to £4000 per annum (Couldn't believe that figure when I was shown it!), I've decided I cant afford a Port Cellar.
I'll have to live vicariously through your expieriences!
Even purchasing 3 cases of nice VP for our kids would mean buying 21 cases, and that would mean I would have an instant Cellar!
I dont want any sympathy, either (Dont worry, I kinow I wasn't getting any). I have a life I cant afford but enjoy. I have too many friends and not enough time. I have a cute, curvy blonde who makes me laugh, and kids who are a pleasure to watch grow, but a sure fire route to an early grave. I also have a job that has shown me the extremes of human nature and the complex struggle between good and evil.
I just cant afford a Cellar!

Alan

Alan,

Have you considered selling any of your children? This would allow you to reduce stress, reduce the number of birth year ports required and perhaps provide an instant injection of capital with which to build and stock the cellar.

Just an idea.

Derek

Off to Mumbai this afternoon - hope to drop in from time to time but could be forced to go cold turkey until Saturday afternoon

Alan C wrote: I just cant afford a Cellar!
Alan

Alan, I sympathize - a EuroCave may fulfill my own need for the time being, I can always look at building my own "proper" cellar one day. I knew it would be a multi-year quest in any case so who knows?

I DO, however, know where a good portion of the proceeds of winning the lottery would go to!

(Bring on that 20L bottle in London!:))

Todd

I had a few minutes to kill waiting for a train yesterday, so I spent some time on a mental doodle, inspired by Tom's cellar ambition, and came up with this...

The Tom Archer Memorial Port Library
A draft charter

* Membership of the library is open to anyone.
* Membership is by subscription with the subscription income being used to pay the operating costs of the library.
* Any excess subscription income is used to add to the library collection.
* There must be a minimum of 100 members. If membership falls below 100 for more than 6 months then the contents of the library revert to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
* The contents of the library are otherwise held in trust for perpetuity for the benefit of current and future members and for the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
* Members must renew the trust every 50 years. If they fail to do so, the contents of the library revert to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
* Members may withdraw one bottle per month, or one half case per six months or one full case per year from the library.
* For each bottle withdrawn, the member must replace the withdrawn bottle with one that will give similar or better drinking enjoyment in 10-20 years time.

• eg. A Taylor 1945 could be withdrawn and replaced with a Taylor 1963
  eg. A Vargellas 1967 could be withdrawn and replaced with a Vargellas 1987

* The trustee of the library is the sole arbiter of what is an acceptable replacement.
* I hereby nominate Fred as the first Custodian and Trustee of the Library.


Alex

PS - DON'T take this seriously. If you do the maths / math / mathmatics / mathematics / sums then you would quickly work out that to run a library like this you would need 100 x 12 x 20 = 24,000 bottles to sustain it (and that's without any shrinkage!). But Tom's got to have a goal to aim for. And at least it would solve the problem that some of have of dying with port collections and no appreciative children to leave the collection to. Leave it to the Tom Archer Memorial Port Library and have a collection within the Port Library known as the "Alex Bridgeman Legacy Collection"

PPS - for those outside the UK, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster is where your money goes if you don't have any heirs, basically the UK government

Not bad Alex - not bad!

- I'm thinking that once established, there would be no need to buy old wine, so the cellar could be constantly topped by the purchase of young wines - ten different each year.

- 100 members is perhaps too many - 36 comes to mind.

- Members pay a membership fee - the trustees buy the wine.

- Bottles over 40 years old are exclusively drunk at quarterly dinner parties, which all members may attend.

- Members ration for personal consumption is half a case p.a.

- But yes, it's still a lot of bottles!

Tom

I refer the honourable Gentlemen to the Post I gave a few moments ago!

(Mice and Men)

With apologies to the Houses of Parliament

Alan,

Would you be a touch skeptical??

Not having any relatives that are needy or otherwise very deserving of a bequest, and being very mindful of the adage 'you can't take it with you' - I am actually much more serious than you might think.

You need to know that mediocrity has never been my style...

Tom