1800's TASTING!

[SEAN C.]

I'm posting a separate thread for this... Alex and I have been talking about doing this for some time but very few people have pre 1900's bottles of Port in their collections so it will be difficult. The tasting we would like to arrange would be a "nineteenth century extravaganza" in which all attendees would be required to bring one (or more) bottle(s) of Port from the 1800's. With 10 or so people contributing 1 or 2 bottles each it could be quite a historic event. Although each person may be bringing an expensive bottle worth $1000 or more he will be drinking $10,000 - $20,000 worth of rare Port!
If anyone has any bottles or the desire to try to source some please post what you are able to contribute.
I'm trying to make this vintage Port only preferably 2 bottles each times 8 people. (I realize this isn't easy!)

[Andy Velebil]

I would love to try and make this, but I have nothing in my cellar that old. So I'd need to source something or buy something from someone else's cellar. But with enough notice I should be able to come up with something, although sourcing a solid reputable bottle will probably take some time.

[Al B.]

I must be honest, although I have a tiny number of pre-1900 bottles, most of them are from an unknown shipper although generally the merchant is known from the seal on the bottle.

[Roy Hersh]

From getting to know regulars and the types of Ports they store, it is going to be tough to find anyone with pre-1900 bottles of VP in the USA. IF you find someone that has one, the odds are that they certainly won't have two. Anyway, if you are serious about getting this type of event off the ground, you are best suited to source bottles and then divide the cost by the number of participants and virtually do a group buy in, that way. I think it would be far easier that way, but of course, it is your show to run ... just making a suggestion.

[Andy Velebil]

I've started looking around and there are very few pre 1900 Vintage Ports listed for sale in the US. There is a 1896 Dow's that 20-20 wines wants $4,500 a bottle (750ml) for Of course they are always WAY high in their prices for the wines they carry.

The pooling the $$ is a good idea, as that way we can try and source some from the UK. Which are probably going to be better prices and better storage conditions over the years than here anyways.