Do you remember your very first FULL CASE purchase of Port?

[Roy Hersh]

If so, how far down the Port road were you (months or years?) and do you remember which VP it was and the price at the time?

[Peter W. Meek]

I remember it fairly easily. Both my (first and only) case purchases were this year: a case of Noval 20 yr and a case of 2007 Warre's VP.

[Andy Velebil]

Yes, I do. It was a case of the 1986 Dow's Quinta do Bomfim VP. Bought it not too long out of college when I scrapped all my spare money together to buy it. Being flat broke after, I couldn't afford my normal staple of Six Grapes, so I drunk many of these early in my Port drinking career. I still have one bottle left that I will eventually open, but I've keep it for sentimental reasons. I know it's not the best Port there is, but when I do open it I want to share it with other Port lovers I know. I sorta guess a walk down memory lane kinda thing.

[Steve E.]

Still haven't bought my first case of VP. The closest I've come to a case at all was 8 of the 20yr Dow's gift boxes (includes a glass) from Costco for around $18/box after tax and shipping.

I'm just starting to delve into the VP's, but have to be cautious as I don't have proper storage facilities. Getting a case at this point wouldn't be wise.

[Eric Ifune]

1977 Warres in the early 1980's.

[Anton W.]

Yes, I sure do remember the first case. After trying many "singles" in the late nineties, I bought my first full case of VP in january 2003. It was a Burmester 2000 that cost me 165 Euro at the time. The Dutch importer of Burmester was based near my town, so actually from then on I got me many Burmesters and Quinta Nova De Nossa Senhora Do Carmo (owned by Burmester).

[Moses Botbol]

Yes I remember. It was a case of Dow 20 year tawny. The store had it for the $20's a bottle and I thought there was no way I was going to let this one get by me. Had to hide it from my booze swilling roommates as they could suck a cask dry of port if were around. My next case was a case of 1985 Porto Morgado I bought for a friend and checked it on a plane! At $10 a bottle, why not?

[Luc Gauthier]

Haven't bought one yet .
Although , I had a case of diahrea once

[Glenn E.]

My first full case purchase was 12 bottles of Kopke 40 Year Old Tawny Port from the FTLOP buying opportunity.

Full case purchases are still a rarity for me. The aforementioned Kopke, a case of 1985 Graham, and a case of 1985 Churchill are my only purchases that large. I've purchased two separate 6-packs (and several pairs) of 2003 Noval so I have a full case of that in my cellar, and I have accumulated more than 12 bottles of 1964 Noval Colheita by purchasing singles and pairs, but those are the only additions to the total.

Part of the reason for me is that I just don't have the storage space for full cases. I don't have a cellar, just a pair of full-size wine refrigerators, so I only have storage space for a little under 300 bottles. I like buying singles and pairs and have a lot of those, so there's just not room for 12-bottle purchases of a single Port.

[Glenn E.]

I remember it fairly easily. Both my (first and only) case purchases were this year: a case of Noval 20 yr and a case of 2007 Warre's VP.

That's hard to believe coming from Mr. Nimrod!

[Peter W. Meek]

I remember it fairly easily. Both my (first and only) case purchases were this year: a case of Noval 20 yr and a case of 2007 Warre's VP.

That's hard to believe coming from Mr. Nimrod!

Duuhhh! Yeah, there seem to have been 15+ cases of Nimrod since I started keeping records and I know there were some before that; perhaps that's why my memory is cloudy. Those would have been my first port case purchases.

17.5 bottles left.

[Gary Richardson]

My first case purchase was just a couple of weeks ago -- 1937 Noval Colheita (plus 2 additional loose bottles of the same.)

Otherwise, I have mostly single bottles of various Colheitas, Tawnies, LBVs and Vintages. I have found that this becomes painful when I open one of the singles that I REALLY love. Then, I have to search for replacements. Living in Maryland, I cannot order on-line and have wine shipped to me. But, I enjoy the hunt more anyway. I find that the Port tastes better if it was harder to find. Sort of like a good restaurant!

I just opened a bottle of the 2003 Taylor LBV and this may well be my 2nd case purchase in the next few days. I can get it from a local shop for $18 per bottle. Not a blow-out price, but not terrible. This is a really nice bottle for that price. Taylor got this one right.

-- Gary

[Glenn E.]

I just opened a bottle of the 2003 Taylor LBV and this may well be my 2nd case purchase in the next few days. I can get it from a local shop for $18 per bottle. Not a blow-out price, but not terrible. This is a really nice bottle for that price. Taylor got this one right.

An excellent bottle and a very good price. That would be a worthy 2nd case purchase!

[Andy Velebil]

I remember it fairly easily. Both my (first and only) case purchases were this year: a case of Noval 20 yr and a case of 2007 Warre's VP.

That's hard to believe coming from Mr. Nimrod!

Duuhhh! Yeah, there seem to have been 15+ cases of Nimrod since I started keeping records and I know there were some before that; perhaps that's why my memory is cloudy. Those would have been my first port case purchases.

17.5 bottles left.

Maybe you can contact the Symington's to see if you can buy whatever they have left of the Nimrod. That way you'll be stocked for a good long time

[Andy Velebil]

My first case purchase was just a couple of weeks ago -- 1937 Noval Colheita (plus 2 additional loose bottles of the same.)

I just opened a bottle of the 2003 Taylor LBV and this may well be my 2nd case purchase in the next few days. I can get it from a local shop for $18 per bottle. Not a blow-out price, but not terrible. This is a really nice bottle for that price. Taylor got this one right.

-- Gary

Excellent choice on the Noval and the same on the Taylor's LBV. I've said it before, but that 2003 Taylor's LBV is an excellent bottle and I am glad to see the quality of this go up considerably over previous vintages I've had.

[Roy Hersh]

Like Eric Ifune, my first case purchase that I can remember was 1977 Warre's. He beat me though by quite a few years and would love to hear the price he paid. I would imagine it was < $15 at the time.

[Michael Ferrier]

My first full case was Dow 1963, bought in 1975 for £36 from Corney & Barrow. I had the last bottle in 2003 and it could easily have done a further 20 years.

[Eric Ifune]

$9.95 at The Chicago Wine Co. It was on closeout. Still have 3 bottles.

[Gary Banker]

1997 Graham's in July 2002. It cost $50/bottle. It's sitting in the basement getting older.

[Eric Menchen]

Still looking forward to it, as I have yet to purchase a full case of anything. I've got a bid in right now for my 6th half case, 2003 Quinta do Vesuvio.