Old British bottled VP

[Phil Wilkins]

Are they in general, a better buy, given good providence, than the same Estate bottles versions if available? The only bottles I have (Taylor, Grahams, Warre etc) and date from the 50’s & 60’s.

Thanks.
Phil

[Jay Woodruff]

Can't say 100% from personal experience, but from what I have read of tasting notes, etc... it would seem that for a mature bottle, many of the best around came from those bottled not in Portugal but in England.

Not sure why. Perhaps better storage in the internening years??

Jay.

[Phil Wilkins]

I had thought or perhaps imagined that I read somewhere that the British/English bottlings were taken from superior Pipes by the then buyers – hence the post. That is just hearsay from a Port amateur. Perhaps someone with good knowledge could chime in.

[Frederick Blais]

Something to consider too is that the Port mature faster during the boat ride between Porto and London. I don't have many tasting experience from bottling out of Gaia, but if the grape quality use in both bottling where the same, I would say that the Portugal bottling is more reliable, but it is just my thinking, I don't have the answer.

[Marco D.]

My personal experience has shown that British bottlings tend to be more "youthful"... not better, just younger.

I also heard the rumor that British bottlers "cherry-picked" the more tannic, age-worthy pipes.

--
Marco DeFreitas

[Jason Brandt Lewis]

My experience with side-by-side tastings of the same Vintage Porto (bottled in the UK v. bottled in Portugal) is limited. I've only done it twice. Both times, served blind, the London bottled wine was preferred.

That said, I don't think anything truly concrete can be determined from this. Merchants in the UK (Berry Bros., Whitwham's, Avery's, Harvey's, etc.) had a long tradition of bottling not just Porto but many wines, and did so extraordinary well. Indeed, some facilities in the UK were no doubt better equipped than facilities in Vila Nova da Gaia. (Let's not forget that Portugal was long viewed as the "Poor Man of [Western] Europe.")

Cheers,
Jason

[Alan Rath]

Good topic. If they are bottled in Portugal, are they also then stored there? I have to assume storage conditions are generally more favorable (cooler) on average than in Portugal, wouldn't this possibly explain Jason's observation that the Enlish bottlings tasted more youthful?

Alan

[nicos neocleous]

Are they in general, a better buy, given good providence, than the same Estate bottles versions if available? The only bottles I have (Taylor, Grahams, Warre etc) and date from the 50’s & 60’s.

Thanks.
Phil

Phil,

Let me know when you want to open tham and I can help you taste them.

Cheers.
Nicos

[Jason Brandt Lewis]

One more point, Phil.

Here in the States, there is usually no price differential between a UK-bottled or Porto-bottled VP.

When I was importing older Vintage Porto -- mostly out of the U.K. -- the quotes I would get from any particular source would be for the wine, period. Sometimes a shipment would consist of cases bottled in the U.K., sometimes Porto, sometimes both! Prices would vary by source, not by bottling location.

Cheers,
Jason