What Port buying strategy would you recommend?

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Thu Dec 27, 2007 12:04 am

We have lots of new and young collectors who come to FTLOP (most tend to lurk) and want to learn about where, how and what Ports to buy.

Let's take a hypothetical 30-40 year old man or woman with a modest income, whot has some discretionary income of say $1,500 a year to invest in Ports. What strategy would you recommend to a consumer like this that is looking to build their cellar from scratch?

I can think of lots of folks who post here who were in a very similar position at one time, so it would be great if you could share your collective Port wisdom.

This might even entice someone new to come out of the shadows and post for the first time. :)

Thanks!

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 3:55 am

No takers, eh? :wall:

Moses Botbol · Post by **Moses Botbol** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 6:02 am

I'd go for one 700-800 OWC, probably from the 80's, then make the difference up in individual steals, a one or two from the 70's, maybe a mag or two from the 90's. I'd avoid the 60's and older. I wouldn't go anything newer than 95.

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 5:30 pm

It's too late at night for me to write a full reply, which this post deserves, so I will restrict myself to only one comment.

The most important thing that I think you need to do in order to determine your Port Buying Strategy is:

- determine what you want your drinking stratregy to be.

If you are working to a fixed budget and want to drink a bottle of port every night then you will be buying 365 bottles a year and working with a budget of $20-25 a bottle. This is perfectly manageable and would require a combination of LBV's and bargain hunting VPs / SQVPs.

If you are looking for a bottle of port a week and are also looking to build up a cellar to mature your own ports then you will clearly need a different strategy.

So, for me, the most important thing is understand what you want to achieve and then work towards that goal.

Alex

Robert O. · Post by **Robert O.** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 6:25 pm

I am hoping that more people answer this post, as this is almost exactly the situation I am in. I am 36, new to port collecting, and while I make a comfortable living, I probably need to restrict my port buying to the $1,500 to $2,000 a year range. Cellartracker! tells me I have spent $2,300 this year but I allowed myself to spend a bit more this year as I needed to experiment and find out what I like. I find that I largely drink aged tawnies (10yr and 20yr) during the summer, but otherwise consume a bottle of VP approximately every two weeks or so. I would also like to put away enough older port so that within 10 years I can drink a bottle every two weeks from my existing cellar.

Any advice?

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 2:03 am

Yes, be patient and others will come to this thread and add their collective Port wisdom, you'll see.

I will add mine too, after others take a dip in this pool. To me, one of the greatest services this Forum can provide, is to help with this type of situational analysis. We have lots of very savvy Port drinkers/collectors here, so I look forward to reading the advice you'll receive.

Kris Henderson · Post by **Kris Henderson** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:20 pm

When coming up with a buying and drinking strategy, there are three very important pieces of information one needs to know:
1. Your consumption rate - How many bottles per year will you drink.
2. Age of Port - On average, how old you want each bottle of Port to be when you open it.
3. Budget - How much you want to spend per year

For someone starting out, let's assume drinking 24 bottles of Vintage Port per year with an average age of 20 years. Given these parameters, to sustain the rate of consumption and bottle age, a person would need to have 480 bottles of Port in their cellar and purchase 24 bottles a year.

It would be nice to go out and buy 506 bottles of Port in one year to have an instant cellar but for an investment of $30,000 to $40,000 that is not a realistic option for most people.

The reasonable alternative is to slowly build up the cellar over a number of years which means buying more bottles that you drink. By purchasing 48 bottles of Port per year and consuming 24 of them it will take 20 years to have that 480 bottle Port cellar. The question then becomes, which 48 bottles to buy per year?

12 bottles per year of top name young Vintage Port for long term cellaring
12 bottles per year of SQVP or 2nd label young Vintage Port for long term cellaring
20 bottles per year of L.B.V. for near term consumption
4 bottles per year of SQVP or Vintage Port that is 20+ years old for near term consumption, so you are not completely deprived of older VP.

I think I've gone a bit over the requested budget but for an average cost per bottle of $70 for young VP, $50 per bottle of young 2nd label or SQVP, $20 per bottle of L.B.V., and $60 to $100 for 20+ year old Vintage Port, that works out to $2160 per year. By bargain shopping when retailers have discounts and getting lucky at auctions, I think it would be possible to get under $2000 per year.

I'm in my 30's, and for the most part I am following this approach. I buy a mixture of young and older Vintage Port. For consumption, I buy LBV's as I need them along with some Tawnies and Colheita's. I also drink a few bottles of the older VP that's ready to drink and occasionally drink something that is young just to see what it tastes like.

Kris Henderson · Post by **Kris Henderson** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:21 pm

Another completely reasonable approach would be to not build a cellar over time. Take that $2000 per year and buy 24 bottles per year for an average cost of $83 per bottle. There is a lot of VP out there ready to drink in that price range. There are some disadvantages to this approach though:
1. You are not assured of provenance
2. If the price of ready to drink Ports increases, you will have to spend more or drink less.

Robert O. · Post by **Robert O.** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:48 pm

Kris,

Thanks for outlining a sound strategy. I have discovered I am not a huge fan of most LBV port (although some kick butt) so I might sub in some ten year tawnies and the odd colheita for near term drinking. And since I tend to be the only port drinker in the house, I might buy some old VP for immediate drinking in the 375 mL format when I can find it to make my dollar go a little further. I don't think I can only drink 4 older VPs a year!

Mark DaSilva · Post by **Mark DaSilva** » Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:46 pm

It all boils down to taste. Read up on wine ratings and labels; they will give you an insight into what flavors and aromas are in each port before you buy. Love cherry but hate licorice? Try one, avoid the other.

You don't have to spend a lot of money either. Some cheaper LBV's or vintages can do wonders compared to the higher, coveted vintages. At least it gets you primed. Dig a 10 year tawny? Move up to the 20 year. But don't be surprised if the taste differs.

J. Bradley Rauch · Post by **J. Bradley Rauch** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:58 am

I to am in the same situation trying to figure out just what collecting strategy to follow -- ideas here are interesting - While we are talking about a drinking cellar what strategy would be best for price appreciation for the future ??? Do people have a drinking cellar and an investment cellar ???

Eric Ifune · Post by **Eric Ifune** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 5:08 pm

I would definitely plan to lay down some Port, so I would be sure to have good storage. A good mix of recent vintages and some single vintage quintas. I think I would also play the auction game to get some older wines. One would need to be careful of provence and to know current market values to ensure good buys. Don't forget unfiltered LBV's. One thing I would do which I didn't in the past was to get a good supply of colheitas and tawnys with an indicated age of at least 20 years.