Looking to trade Port for Bordeaux

Paul Napolitano · Post by **Paul Napolitano** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:37 pm

Hi all,

I have over 60 cases of Port and my mature Bordeaux is dwindling rapidly. I would like to trade some of the Ports I have in larger quantities for any of the mature Bordeaux I have listed below. However, I am interested in any good Bordeaux from the 1982, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1989 or 1990 vintages.

I think the best way to value the wines is to use winesearcher.com, maybe by taking an average of the best two or three non-auction retail prices. But, if you know a better way, I'm open to anything.

Willing to trade:

1983 Cockburn
1977 Dow
1980 Dow
1983 Dow
1994 Dow
1977 Fonseca
1985 Fonseca
1992 Fonseca
2000 Fonseca .750s and .375s
1970 Graham
1983 Graham .750s, 1.5s and .375s
1985 Graham .750s and .375s
1997 Niepoort
1992 Quinta do Infantado
1997 Noval
1997 Silval
1977 Taylor
1992 Taylor .750s and .375s
1997 Taylor .750s and .375s
2000 Taylor .750s and .375s
1977 Warre
1994 Warre

Looking to get:

1989 Angelus
1990 Angelus
Any good vintage Haut Brion
Any good vintage La Mission Haut Brion
Any good vintage La Tour Haut Brion
1982 Cos
1982 Leoville Poyferre
1990 Leoville Poyferre
1982 Gruaud Larose
1990 Gruaud Larose
1990 Latour
1982 Latour
1982 Leoville las Cases
1986 Leoville las Cases
1990 Leoville las Cases
1989 Lynch Bages
1990 Lynch Bages
1983 Margaux
1990 Montrose
1989 Montrose
1983 Palmer
1989 Palmer
1990 Tertre Roteboeuf
1989 Troplong Mondot
1989 Troplong Mondot

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 6:44 pm

Ladies and gents. I can attest to the fact that Paul has owned many if not most of his Ports for a very long time and his cellar is temp controlled and his Ports are impeccably stored. I normally don't go out on a limb for individual's wines but Paul is not only a friend, but someone that I trust implicitly. You are in good hands with these VPs! Good luck.

Paul Napolitano · Post by **Paul Napolitano** » Thu Feb 02, 2006 7:42 pm

Wow Roy, that was an extremely nice thing to do and say. Thanks a lot. I do take provenance very, very seriously.

p.s. to my post above...If there is any Port not listed above that you are looking for, please let me know. I have a fair amount of 1966s, 1963s and 1955s. You can contact me here or at my email addresses Micksta@aol.com or P.Napolitano@BranchServicesInc.com (blackberry).

Post by **Roy Hersh** » Fri Feb 24, 2006 4:33 pm

Paul,

Did you get much in the way of traffic from your posting?

Some of these represent great bargains and others would be equal to winesearcher offerings at retail, except that your provenance is a given. So did folks dig in or ignore?

Paul Napolitano · Post by **Paul Napolitano** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 6:25 pm

Roy,

No, unfortunately I didn't get one response. I guess people are hanging on to their Bordeaux these days.

I do have an offer from elsewhere for a bottle of 1982 Petrus for an assortment of Ports from that list. I may take the guy up on that but a single bottle of that value is not what I was looking for.

Paul

Al B. · Post by **Al B.** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:45 am

Paul,
Roy,

I can only comment on why I did not respond to the offer to exchange mature bordeaux for port. I guess the answer comes in three parts:

(i) geography - actually exchanging the wines across the Atlantic is not something that I have ever done and assume it would be quite tough to achieve without damaging the wines.

(ii) my stocks of mature bordeaux are limited in quantity and are not being replaced. I enjoy drinking bordeaux but have become disillusioned with vintage after vintage being publicised as another "must have vintage of the year/decade/century/millennium". The wine I have, I will drink but not replace and the space that this creates in my cellar will be filled with VP and similar wines.

(iii) I don't have wines in the quantities that you have. I can't offer you a case of '82 Las Cases as I only have a few bottles in my possessions.

It was an interesting offer and one which I would have loved to have been able to have taken advantage of, but I just wasn't in a position to be able to.

Now on the other hand, if you wanted to raise some money by selling some of the ports that you have larger quantities to the people on the forum and use the money raised to purchase some of the wines you are looking for, then I might be able to aim some of my wine buying budget in your direction....

Alex

Dave Johnson · Post by **Dave Johnson** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 12:09 pm

"Amen" to point (ii) that Alex makes in his post. The value-to-satisfaction ratio of Bordeaux relative to VP's has already rapidly declined for me as well.

Paul Napolitano · Post by **Paul Napolitano** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:30 pm

johnsondo wrote:"Amen" to point (ii) that Alex makes in his post. The value-to-satisfaction ratio of Bordeaux relative to VP's has already rapidly declined for me as well.

You both make a really good point in regard to Bordeaux being low in value. With the falling US dollar and more competition from India and China, prices have skyrocketed. I really love Bordeaux but for the first time ever I find myself thinking twice about pulling out bottles because of the price of replacement. It's very disheartening.

bridgema wrote: (iii) I don't have wines in the quantities that you have. I can't offer you a case of '82 Las Cases as I only have a few bottles in my possessions.

It was an interesting offer and one which I would have loved to have been able to have taken advantage of, but I just wasn't in a position to be able to.

Alex,

To be clear, I was only looking for a few bottles of this and a few bottles of that. If you or anyone wanted to just trade a bottle or two of one of the Bordeauxs I mentioned for three or four of the Ports, I will be very receptive.

The shipping of wines to and from England poses a much more difficult problem. I'm sure we could work it out if we had to but I think it would be too risky for both of us unless we used an importer. And that would be too much of a hassle to be worth it. Anybody have any experience shipping wine to or from England and the US via UPS or FedEx?

bridgema wrote: Now on the other hand, if you wanted to raise some money by selling some of the ports that you have larger quantities to the people on the forum and use the money raised to purchase some of the wines you are looking for, then I might be able to aim some of my wine buying budget in your direction....

Alex

I have been selling some wines (mostly California and Australia, no Port yet) at auction to raise capital to buy more Bordeaux. Selling privately tends to require more time and effort than I am willing to devote to it. It's much easier to send six or seven cases off to the auction house and then have credit to buy what I want.

However, I am "O for 12" on Bordeaux over the past couple of months in two auctions. It's not like I bid very low or anything either. Bordeaux is through the roof.

Port has been escalating rapidly as well, as you all know. I think the ones to buy now are 83 and 85 Graham's and 85 Fonseca. They are approaching a window of drinkability and can still be had at relatively good prices.