For The Love Of Port

My father died recently leaving behind two bottles of Gould Campbell Crusted Port bottled in 1980. The label shows they were imported by The I.W.B.C. Ltd in Worcestershire. Is this particular port considered collectible or of any value? As none of the remaining family drink we might be looking to sell it on to someone who may appreciate it. Some advice would be appreciated.

I have some Gould Campbell 1980 Vintage Port that is particularly tasty, though not especially valuable. Are you sure its crusted not vintage? GC80 Vintage Port market price is around $80/bottle, but i've seen it as low as $40. I don't know what crusted port would be, but certainly less. At only two bottles, it may be worth your while to pass them on to a friend to enjoy, rather than try to sell & ship them.

Hi there - thanks for the information. It's definitely 'Crusted Port' - the labels (plain white) read:

'GC Logo'
Established 1797
Gould Campbell
Crusted Port
Bottled in 1980
Produce of Portugal
Imported by The I.W.B.C. Ltd., Ombersley, Worcestershire

Hope that helps.

You don't say where you are located--if you could, perhaps one of us FTLOPers would be happy to buy them from you. (Josh is right that they aren't worth shipping; the cost would be too much in proportion to the value). I'm in the NYC area, so if you are there, I would be very interested.

They might hold some small value just for being oddities. Crusted Ports are rather rare even though they're not of the same quality level as Vintage Ports.

But as Josh said, one can find 1980 GC Vintage Ports as low as $40/bottle so I wouldn't expect your Crusted Ports to sell any higher than that.

Thanks to all of you for your replies. For information, I am based in Stratford-upon-Avon in England.

Hi Robin,

Hopefully one of the UK Port enthusiasts here will approach you privately and make an offer.

The Crusted Port is even more rare than the 1980 GC Vintage Port, so I would discount the fact of the price comparison. The scarcity factor of finding old Crusted Ports well stored is not to be ignored. Older bottlings of Crusted Ports are virtually non-existent on our side of the pond. In the UK, they can still be found but are not up for sale all that often. So although these are not expensive bottles with lots of intrinsic value, I would not just let them go for a song as they would likely bring in 75 quid together and that would seem like a fair starting price.

Many thanks for your response Roy, much appreciated - anyone in the UK interested in making an offer?

Roy Hersh wrote:I would not just let them go for a song as they would likely bring in 75 quid together and that would seem like a fair starting price.

Cheers, Roy - it's good to have someone riding shotgun to make sure I have a great negotiating position!

Robin Ball wrote:Many thanks for your response Roy, much appreciated - anyone in the UK interested in making an offer?

Robin, I will send you an offer by email.

Derek, I am always willing to help out a brutha in Port.

Roy Hersh wrote:Hi Robin,

Hopefully one of the UK Port enthusiasts here will approach you privately and make an offer.

The Crusted Port is even more rare than the 1980 GC Vintage Port, so I would discount the fact of the price comparison. The scarcity factor of finding old Crusted Ports well stored is not to be ignored. Older bottlings of Crusted Ports are virtually non-existent on our side of the pond. In the UK, they can still be found but are not up for sale all that often. So although these are not expensive bottles with lots of intrinsic value, I would not just let them go for a song as they would likely bring in 75 quid together and that would seem like a fair starting price.

Roy,

I think you are way optimistic in your estimate of what Robin might get for these bottles in the UK. I buy a fair amount of my old port at auction, including mature Crusted port which comes up with reasonable regularity. In the last 3 years, I have bought the following:

Dow 2003 £14
Churchill 1984 £20
Churchill 1984 £12
Dow 2000 £12
Fonseca 2001 £14
Fonseca 2004 £12
Graham 2000 £6
Graham 2002 £9
Graham 2003 £12
Symington 1984 £21
Martinez 1968 £33
Symington 1989 £24

These are the prices I have paid. In order to back calculate what Robin might get if selling through auction, you need to deduct from these prices an average of 12.5% for the buyer's commission and an average of 15% for sellers commission - which means that Robin could reasonably expect to net about £25 for the pair - not £75!

I would most certainly not be a buyer if these were offered at £75 for the pair, although I accept that there may be other folks who would be interested.

Alex

Hi there Everyone!

I've watched with interest the various conversations regarding my late father's port. It would appear that the bottles are not of any great value (unlike the single malts my father had which fetched a few thousand!). On the basis that they have little resale value the family have decided not to sell but to donate to a local charity. They can then be 'auctioned' at one of their regualr events where they might realise a higher value than they are actually worth but with the proceeds going to a good cause.

Can I please thank everyone for your kind and thoughtful advice.

Kind regards - Robin

Sounds like a good plan Robin.

Robin Ball wrote:Hi there Everyone!

I've watched with interest the various conversations regarding my late father's port. It would appear that the bottles are not of any great value (unlike the single malts my father had which fetched a few thousand!). On the basis that they have little resale value the family have decided not to sell but to donate to a local charity. They can then be 'auctioned' at one of their regualr events where they might realise a higher value than they are actually worth but with the proceeds going to a good cause.

Can I please thank everyone for your kind and thoughtful advice.

Kind regards - Robin

Robin,

I think that is a generous decision and one which - hopefully - the charity you choose will be able to benefit from.

And thanks for giving us a diverting thread to pursue for a few days!

+1.

You may want to let us know when the auction is--some potential bidders are here. Thanks

Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but where are people finding GC 80 VP for $40? I wouldn't be as surprised if that's an auction price but if we're talking retail that seems incredibly low.

Lamont Huxley wrote:Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but where are people finding GC 80 VP for $40? I wouldn't be as surprised if that's an auction price but if we're talking retail that seems incredibly low.

Current Wine Searcher low is $59.25 before tax

Derek T. wrote:

Lamont Huxley wrote:Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but where are people finding GC 80 VP for $40? I wouldn't be as surprised if that's an auction price but if we're talking retail that seems incredibly low.

Current Wine Searcher low is $59.25 before tax

$40 would be an auction price. $60 is more normal for internet retail a la Wine Searcher. (Which is still a great deal in the US for a 1980 VP!)

Thanks fellas, I thought that sounded a bit too good to be true for a retail price. But as you said Glenn, $60 is still a hell of a deal for a 32 year old VP! I didn't realize it could be had that cheap. Once I can afford to buy some VP again I may have to give it a shot.

Lamont, look at the offline planner, I'm headed your way and would be happy to bring one for you to try.