Times & cellars have changed/evolved your oldest bottle of VP & Colheita are?

[Roy Hersh]

Tom,

You've reminded me with your last posting in this thread that I need to find a "doff one's cap" emoticon. But for now, this one's for you:

[Tim Swaback]

2500 BOTTLES! Wow, I have 7 at the moment the oldest being a 20 year tawny by Sandeman bottled in 2005. Not sure if that counts as 25 years old but heck why not. 1985! After that is 2003 LBV's.

My "cellar" ages 7 days for every day. Woot!

[John M.]

Like Tim, I too am amazed at the 2,550+- bottle collection of Tom Archer-kudos...and the 27.4 year average age. I'm lucky if mine is September!

Thanks to my wife, I got a nice present of a 1985 Fonseca VP today(Thanks for all the TNs & Info). I do not have a Colheita. My entire collection is 10 bottles, a couple of which are from the 1990s, but most are more recent...and I intend to drink them soon! At present, I am trying to sample as many ports as possible to build up personal knowledge so collecting is not exactly a priority yet--this is exacerbated by the lack of a suitable place to store them. I'm getting there and enjoying the view along the way.....

[Roy Hersh]

Frank Sinatra got it right: "THE BEST IS YET TO COME ... "

[David M. Bueker]

I rarey, if ever venture into the secondary market for wine, so I only rarely acquire older bottles. That said I do have a '77 Warre's along with a smattering of early/mid '80s wines. Everything else is 1991 or newer which is why I don't post many tastng notes from my own cellar. It needs time, lots of time.

[Espen S.]

I have a 1980 Rebello Valente VP I found in the store the other day. That's my only "old" bottle of anything.

[dom carter]

I don't have a cellar (i rent part of a small house!) - i just drink the stuff! i'm lucky enough that my local merchant has good range of aged port, the oldest i've drunk would be the '66 Warre's VP and at the turn of the year i did break open my oldest bottle - Warre's '80 VP, i had a '72 Taylor's but as discussed previously on this forum it was corked!

Dom

[Symon B]

hi 12x1912 niepoort colheita in neck still to this day i have never had a colheita they looked so good in the cat and notes from roy i could not resist buying them it made me read up on what a colheita was etc so iv been on the learning curve symonb

[Derek T.]

hi 12x1912 niepoort colheita...i have never had a colheita...it made me read up on what a colheita was

Symon,

This seems like a very extreme purchase to start you out on a learning curve about Colheita

These are very rare gems and I assume you plan to keep them until you learn how to appreciate them? To do otherwise would be like having Nacional 63 as your first ever VP

Derek

[Gary Banker]

My oldest VP is 1977 Warre.

I have no colheita at the present time (except madeira). The oldest that I have had was 1968 Warre.

[David Spriggs]

My oldest VP is now 1960 (yes, sad that I have nothing older)
Oldest Colheita is 1900
Oldest Garrafeira is 1950

[Tom D.]

I was able to pick up 1945 Dow and Sandeman recently, my oldest bottles. My goal in the near future is to significantly decrease my overall cellar size while increasing average botle age -- as budget permits and as I am able sell some other bottles (hence my recent post in the FTLOP Marketplace forum).

You chaps in the UK really seem to have an advantage in access to older vintages or else I'm just not looking in the right places. I suppose it would help if I was on one of the coasts instead of the Midwest...

[Espen S.]

Now it's a 1977 Dow's VP.
Not a lot of old wines available here.

[Symon B]

hi the 1912 niepoort was baught to keep intact not to drink and my children will get it one day
i plan to buy 1 bottle of the same to try in the nexed 5 years to split a case of 1912 is something i would not wish to do for history it is a responsibuility we are custodiens
indeed we may get them reconditioned if they were bottled 1920s to help them on there nexed 100 ys unless advised otherwise symonb

[Derek T.]

hi the 1912 niepoort was baught to keep intact not to drink and my children will get it one day
i plan to buy 1 bottle of the same to try in the nexed 5 years to split a case of 1912 is something i would not wish to do for history it is a responsibuility we are custodiens
indeed we may get them reconditioned if they were bottled 1920s to help them on there nexed 100 ys unless advised otherwise symonb

Symon,

Colheita is not intended to be aged in bottle. Do you know when these 1912's were bottled? It should be stated on the case and/or the bottles. I'm not sure what you mean by "get them reconditioned" but if your intention is to keep them for 100 years I am afraid to say you have bought the wrong type of Port. These wines are ready to drink now and will probably only go down hill from here now that it has been bottled. Niepoort does have a reputation for producing Colheita that does keep well in bottle for an extended period but I am certain they do not intend for it to be aged in the way you describe.

As for your thoughts on us being custodians and not opening this case "for history" - I don't think you will find many people here who would agree with you on that score. These great wines are intended to be drunk, not kept for so long that they become less enjoyable than they would be at their peak. Too much fabulous wine is wasted in this world because it is kept longer than it should be and is kept as a trophy or a financial investment rather than for the pleasure of drinking it. I think that is a big mistake and does not do justice to the wine or those who put so much passion, skill and care into making it.

Just my

Derek

[David Spriggs]

hi the 1912 niepoort was baught to keep intact not to drink and my children will get it one day
i plan to buy 1 bottle of the same to try in the nexed 5 years to split a case of 1912 is something i would not wish to do for history it is a responsibuility we are custodiens
indeed we may get them reconditioned if they were bottled 1920s to help them on there nexed 100 ys unless advised otherwise symonb

On the bottling date of the 1912 Neipoort - I believe that you will find the bottling date on the bottle somewhere. My recollection is that these were likely bottled in the mid to late 1970. So there should eb no need to open and recondition. THat would be a great gift for your kids. It does seem a shame that one of them is not opened in two years for their 100 year anniversary.
-Dave-

[Roy Hersh]

Derek wrote:

As for your thoughts on us being custodians and not opening this case "for history" - I don't think you will find many people here who would agree with you on that score. These great wines are intended to be drunk, not kept for so long that they become less enjoyable than they would be at their peak. Too much fabulous wine is wasted in this world because it is kept longer than it should be and is kept as a trophy or a financial investment rather than for the pleasure of drinking it. I think that is a big mistake and does not do justice to the wine or those who put so much passion, skill and care into making it.

I agree. To buy this all to gift to one's children without even trying one or two bottles to see how they are, is a travesty. Why not just buy them 2007 Vintage Ports if that is your goal? I call it hogging when someone buys a case of these ancient beauties at auction, with no intent to enjoy them in their lifetime. There were others who would have not only opened and enjoyed them, but shared them with other Port lovers to spread the love. I don't necessarily understand what is gained by bequeathing Ports of this nature.

That said, I do agree with David, that if bottled in the past 30-40 years, these (specifically this producer) Niepoort bottles should drink beautifully for some time. How much time? Well that is the crap shoot. I've had this just two times and both were gorgeous examples of old Colheita but if I owned a case, I'd be opening one bottle every couple of years. Even if I was still in my mid-thirties it would be a bottle every three or four years for the rest of my life on special occasions.

[Eric Menchen]

This all makes me think I should put some bottle racks in the 45 degree F section of my planned cellar--perfect for those bottles you don't want to age.

[Al B.]

The oldest colheita I have in my cellar at the moment is from 1977 - and I only have that one bottle!

I took a bottle of Hatch Mansfield 1858 port to our Christmas offline last month, and discovered to my shock and surprise that it was actually a colheita! Imagine my embarassment - I thought the oldest colheita I had when I posted before was from 1977. Right now the oldest colheita I have is a bottle of the Graham 1952 colheita.

[Glenn E.]

Mine have changed a bit. I now have a 1948 Graham VP, but my collection of 1937s are still my oldest Colheitas.