For The Love Of Port

Ok my knowledgeable Port folks. What do you think of this 1945 Taylor's VP?

Modern Bordeaux bottle, bulbous wax seal (we've seen similar on other known fake bottles), a Selo that would have had to have been applied by Taylor's in the mid 1970's at the earliest, and a label that seems a little off in type set. Real or fake?

The label is really white. Normally is has the colour of the bottle next tloo it.

Jasper A. wrote:The label is really white. Normally is has the colour of the bottle next tloo it.

I saw that too. Does look artificially aged doesn't it?

The label is definitely not encouraging, but the bottle is the biggie for me. I'm sure if you looked at the bottom it would have the modern markings as well. That alone would be a deal breaker if I was looking to buy/bid.

The wax cap, as you mentioned, looks like other known fakes, which isn't encouraging either, especially since it's over the selo, which wouldn't fit most of the common scenarios that would explain a selo and "too young" label in the first place.

Hopefully you (or a friend) didn't buy it!


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Blatant fake. But that doesn't look like your kitchen tiling in the background - did you buy it or is that a picture from somewhere else? If you bought it you should get a full refund but if this came through a retailer or auction house I am very disappointed that this was not pulled and destroyed.

Al B. wrote:Blatant fake. But that doesn't look like your kitchen tiling in the background - did you buy it or is that a picture from somewhere else? If you bought it you should get a full refund but if this came through a retailer or auction house I am very disappointed that this was not pulled and destroyed.

Not my bottle. It was posted on Facebook. I PM'd the person who posted it and have not had a reply from him as of yet.

Al B. wrote:Blatant fake. But that doesn't look like your kitchen tiling in the background - did you buy it or is that a picture from somewhere else? If you bought it you should get a full refund but if this came through a retailer or auction house I am very disappointed that this was not pulled and destroyed.

It seems we've seen that mottled label aging before, but the clincher for me was the ' set in modern type in Taylor's . Every label from that era had the curved apostrophe not whatever that is on the fake label.

Apostrophe crimes are back to haunt us!

Can't tell from the photo, but are the label stains printed on the paper? I'd also closely look at the bottle. Looks too modern. Sometimes the bottle production date is on the bottom.

The person who posted this has not replied to my message and has removed the post/picture from Facebook. It is sad if someone is afraid to admit they got a possible fake bottle. It will happen to most of us at least once along our old wine buying journey. Nothing to be ashamed of at all. Putting one's head into the sand does not help solve the problem of getting fakes out of circulation.

Agreed, not much difference between that and having a corked bottle come from one's cellar. Very odd.

Update: I did hear back from the person. He is going to try and get me more pics.

Eric Ifune wrote:Can't tell from the photo, but are the label stains printed on the paper? I'd also closely look at the bottle. Looks too modern. Sometimes the bottle production date is on the bottom.

Normally when a label gets stained the stains will partially obscure some of the printing as it is an actual layer of substance on top, soaked in. Nothing like that appears on the fake label, so yes it appears that the stains were printed on.

Not correct..

Glass wrong - capsule wrong (for Oporto bottled Taylor) - label wrong

Too many phonies coming out of the woodwork in the last few years - the focus needs to be on finding out who the fakers are - and nailing them..

Tom Archer wrote:Not correct..

Glass wrong - capsule wrong (for Oporto bottled Taylor) - label wrong

Too many phonies coming out of the woodwork in the last few years - the focus needs to be on finding out who the fakers are - and nailing them..

a very big +1

This trend is very discouraging and disappointing. But, I wonder what is actually in the bottles? Do forgers just put miscellaneous liquids or wine in? Or, do they actually fill them with something that could pass as Port? I do not believe that I have ever had a faked bottle, so not sure what the experience is like.

Gary Richardson wrote:This trend is very discouraging and disappointing. But, I wonder what is actually in the bottles? Do forgers just put miscellaneous liquids or wine in? Or, do they actually fill them with something that could pass as Port? I do not believe that I have ever had a faked bottle, so not sure what the experience is like.

The only fake bottle I've been part of opening definitely wasn't port. No clue what it was and no one dared taste it.


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Andy Velebil wrote:

Gary Richardson wrote:This trend is very discouraging and disappointing. But, I wonder what is actually in the bottles? Do forgers just put miscellaneous liquids or wine in? Or, do they actually fill them with something that could pass as Port? I do not believe that I have ever had a faked bottle, so not sure what the experience is like.

The only fake bottle I've been part of opening definitely wasn't port. No clue what it was and no one dared taste it.

I was there with the fake bottle of Croft and it tasted like another kind of fruit in the wine like it Schnapps or something...
Was party of a 1900 Dow (pretty sure that was the vintage) that was far from port. Was bought at auction and auction house refunded money. Tasted like battery acid...

I forgot you were brave enough to sip it. The rest of us were smart lol


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Andy Velebil wrote:I forgot you were brave enough to sip it. The rest of us were smart lol

And ran to the toilet...