For The Love Of Port

Was thinking about my wine buying lately, or I should say lack of buying. As my storage space was quickly running out of room I made the decision earlier this year to cut back and enter more of a "death-row-daily-drinker drink down" mode to make room in the cellar. I'll admit I'm a wine/Port buying junkie I've sorta been successful, but some purchases last year finally arrived recently and has now mostly filled the cellar to the brim. So with some exceptions for older bottles or certain Douro wines, I've basically decided to lay off any large purchases the rest of this year. So for me I'm spending less money now than in the past when I was a Port buying machine as I tried to get a diverse cellar full of Port.

So are you spending more or less on Port now than in the past and why?

Ditto what you said. I'm pretty much maxed out in the cellar with the possible exception of some half bottles and a few more colder side bottles. I went into replacement mode buying for Port at the beginning of the year, and now I'm just about in that mode for all wines.

Yeah I've been in replacement mode for this year and most of last year. It doesn't stop me from buying a great deal if I see one, or from picking up a special bottle here and there, but I haven't made any "for the future" style purchases in quite a while.

To semi quote the movie JAWS...."you're gonna need a bigger cellar <boat>.....

Just expand, buy another unit, what have you and stimulate the economy.

I've been in somewhat the opposite situation over the last 6 months, having worked myself back to some space after having less than none, and have been able to buy a bit more lately.


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John M. wrote:To semi quote the movie JAWS...."you're gonna need a bigger cellar <boat>.....

Just expand, buy another unit, what have you and stimulate the economy.

I've done that three times already, yikes!!!


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Andy Velebil wrote:

John M. wrote:To semi quote the movie JAWS...."you're gonna need a bigger cellar <boat>.....

Just expand, buy another unit, what have you and stimulate the economy.

I've done that three times already, yikes!!!

+1

I have one half-size wine fridge and three full-size wine fridges. The only thing that gets "studied" in my study is my Port collection!

I'm still buying, but only rarities and stashes of exceptional provenance, as I also have a capacity issue with my cellars, and need to invest in more racking..

Tom Archer wrote:I'm still buying, but only rarities and stashes of exceptional provenance, as I also have a capacity issue with my cellars, and need to invest in more racking..

I wish racks were the only issue in my cellar. That's an easy fix.

Andy Velebil wrote:

Tom Archer wrote:I'm still buying, but only rarities and stashes of exceptional provenance, as I also have a capacity issue with my cellars, and need to invest in more racking..

I wish racks were the only issue in my cellar. That's an easy fix.

Yeah, no kidding. Tom has more cellars than I have refrigerators!

I find i am spending less on port lately and more on older bottles of red wines, and German Beerenauslese and Trockenbeerenauslese wines which, like a good port, age seemingly forever and are quite tasty. Unfortunately the cost differential skews with the port being a bit cheaper. But it is nice to have a bit of variety and I still buy a bottle of port when i see something interesting and looking like it is in good condition.

Andy Velebil wrote:Was thinking about my wine buying lately, or I should say lack of buying. As my storage space was quickly running out of room I made the decision earlier this year to cut back and enter more of a "death-row-daily-drinker drink down" mode to make room in the cellar. I'll admit I'm a wine/Port buying junkie I've sorta been successful, but some purchases last year finally arrived recently and has now mostly filled the cellar to the brim. So with some exceptions for older bottles or certain Douro wines, I've basically decided to lay off any large purchases the rest of this year. So for me I'm spending less money now than in the past when I was a Port buying machine as I tried to get a diverse cellar full of Port.

So are you spending more or less on Port now than in the past and why?

Ditto. All of my storage units are bursting at the seams and any future purchases (at least for the rest of the year) are either replacement bottles or older vintages. Its time to drink down the cellar a bit in order to make room for some larger purchases.

I'm buying a lot fewer bottles than I have done in the last few years, but ironically find that I am actually spending more through a combination of higher port prices and the fact that I'm buying older and rarer ports. My last purchase, for example, was a bottle of Nacional 2004. I rarely bought Nacional in the days when I was buying lots of bottles.

Been trying not to, but some great deals keep falling on my lap. Working on one for 42 bottles of '70 and '77 Grahams and Dow.

Moses Botbol wrote:Been trying not to, but some great deals keep falling on my lap. Working on one for 42 bottles of '70 and '77 Grahams and Dow.

'77 Dow's?? You like losing in Vegas too?

Moses Botbol wrote:Been trying not to, but some great deals keep falling on my lap. Working on one for 42 bottles of '70 and '77 Grahams and Dow.

I'll take some '70 Graham off your hands if you want to spread it around at all.

Andy Velebil wrote:

Moses Botbol wrote:Been trying not to, but some great deals keep falling on my lap. Working on one for 42 bottles of '70 and '77 Grahams and Dow.

'77 Dow's?? You like losing in Vegas too?

Ditto! Am 2 for 2 on TCA

Andy Velebil wrote:

Moses Botbol wrote:Been trying not to, but some great deals keep falling on my lap. Working on one for 42 bottles of '70 and '77 Grahams and Dow.

'77 Dow's?? You like losing in Vegas too?

I think my offer may've been too low as I don't put on a high price on '77 Dow for myself, and I would be hesitant to sell it to someone else.

Hardly bought any between Mar and present... looking to get some through the buyers op that Roy put together.
Found that I was buying far more than I could drink - good VP i drink 2-4 bottles a year, mostly to celebrate specific occasions, why have dozens of bottles sitting around needing my care and attention?
Another realization was that there will always be deals to be had...
Then, being in my early 30s w a young family, the $$ I was spending on Port (for consumption in a distant future) is better saved to potentially be used elsewhere. When the time comes, if I still care for it and can afford it, I can just spend the $$ (larger in nominal terms but not necessarily in real terms)... and if i cant afford it, I should have just saved it to begin with anyway.

Al B. wrote:I'm buying a lot fewer bottles than I have done in the last few years, but ironically find that I am actually spending more through a combination of higher port prices and the fact that I'm buying older and rarer ports. My last purchase, for example, was a bottle of Nacional 2004. I rarely bought Nacional in the days when I was buying lots of bottles.

My cellar records track my purchases back over nearly 25 years of building up my cellar but it was only this weekend that I got the chance to look back in detail at what I was buying and when. In the early part of the 25 years I was buying pretty much what I was drinking, but also slowly building up a small cellar of wine and port to mature over time. My disposable income was limited in those days and my job less secure.

It was only in the mid-2000s that I started to buy seriously and built up my cellar to have the age profile I would want to have for the rest of my drinking life. It's surprising how small a number of bottles will keep me going for another 30-40 years of drinking. These days I'm still buying port, but much less in quantity than I used to. I'm spending 50-70% a year less than I did in my peak buying days. What I look for now are unusual, rare or very old ports - and then only if they are priced fairly for their provenance.

But what I've noticed is that prices are still going up - and it's not me driving them in that direction!