For The Love Of Port

Or do you also purchase those under-90 point Ports that offer greater value? Where is your tipping point?

I will buy based on a the circle of people who I would trust their opinions on, or buy any bottle with no review /ok review if it didn't break the bank. Show me '70 VP of a brand I do not know, and for $60; I'll buy it regardless for instance. I question whether many poor reviews are bottle bad, or just a bad vintage.

I am at the point, where odd ball bottles (in USA) & Nacionals are all that's left in post-war port for me to try that I haven't had already. Even if it's suppose to not be that good, I have a duty to try at least one good representation of that bottle.

I can't say I have even scratched the surface on Colheita.

What the question aim only at VP?

I don't look at raitings anymore but I'd bet that most LBV are rated under 90 and still offer great value.

On the Vintage side, I did buy a few bottles from Offley/Pocas for example that does offer good value and early drinking window. If you buy only big guns, you end up never drinking them at the good moment.

Oh yeah, I mainly buy them when they are young and I have to wait, so this is why I do consider lower rated Port in my cellar.

On the Colheita side, hard to find ratings anyway, but companies like Feist offers enjoyable Port at very decent price for the "drink now, enjoy now" stuff that I need.

At my stage of developpment , still learning where my "tipping point " is , I find the 90 + mark of little value .
More port will enable me to zero in on my tipping point .
Fact : - Only 3 VP's , Dow 1970 , Warre 1970 and Warre 1977 are under $300.00 / bottle !!!
SAQ , Can you say reality check

In the same conditions I buy the best rated if I haven't try them. But I usually buy any VP that I haven't tried yet and it's on my value.

Scores don't always dictate what Ports I buy. I buy what I like irregardless of the score. Sometimes that will be a VP or sometimes that will be a Ruby Reserve, or something in between. I keep a small stable of the inexpensive Ports because sometimes I just want to open a nice enjoyable bottle that I don't have to decant, think about to hard, or worry that I have to drink it all in one or two nights. It's almost always these under 90+ Ports that fit the bill for that.

For VP's, I will on occasion buy an under 90+ one. Mainly that is an off vintage that I find at a good price. These occasional bottles give me good reference points as to how these less talked about vintages are holding up. So I guess you could say they really are more for educational purposes. But they still tend to be good values if the price is right.