Port Trophies vs. Port enjoyment

[Luc Gauthier]

I guess It comes down to this : Beauty is in the eye of the beholder !!
Whether It's drinking VP with knowledgeable folk or drinking with family and friends willing to learn .

[Derek T.]

Something happened today that made me think of this thread so I thought it would be a good idea to revive it as there are new members here who have perhaps not seen it before. But mostly I had a need to record what happened today for posterity.

Firstly, I have to report that my beloved trophy bottle of pre-1936 Sandeman Ruby (refered to in one of my above posts) met its fate in 2009 at Quinta do Porto in the company of George Sandeman. I can't think of a better way for it to have exited my collection. I have the comfort of knowing that the empty bottle now sits peacefully in a rack of other empty bottles at the Quinta.

But now for the story of my latest, and now my favourite, trophy bottle of Port...

This evening on the way home from work I recieved a phone call from my mother to tell me that her sister, Jess, had given her "a bottle of Port" to give to me for my birthday on Sunday. I immediately knew what this bottle was and was instantly filled with a combination of extreme sadness and overwhelming joy.

This story actually begins when I was a child in the late 1960s and 70s. Our family holidays always followed a familair pattern; Uncle Steve, my mother's brother-in-law, would drive between eight and fifteen of us in a minibus from Edinburgh to Devon in the south west corner of England for two weeks by the sea. These were epic journeys in those days with no Motorway (Freeway) and the 500 miles would take a whole day each way. Uncle Steve was a hero from a very early age in my life as he was the only member of our large family who could drive and and was therefore the only possible reason we could have had those holidays. He is also the kindest and most respected man I have ever met in my life.

Unfortunately, Uncle Steve passed away whilst I was on the 2006 Harvest Tour with Roy and many others from here. My family didn't tell me until I landed back at London Heathrow as they didn't want to spoil my trip. I was completely and utterly devastated when I heard this news and the days that followed were horrible. Every time I think of that Harvest Tour my thoughts turn to Uncle Steve. The pain of losing him has now been overtaken by the great memories of a special man and the times I was able to spend with him.

One of Uncle Steve's great passions in life was the Bar that he built in his house. It was stocked with bottles of every imaginable drink that he had collected from the many place he had visited in his life, but he never opened any of them. All of them were trophies and the collection was put together over a period of around 30-40 years.

So, a tear-jerking moment occurred tonight when I realised that this weekend I will be receiving the one and only bottle of Port that has sat on the counter of Uncle Steve's bar for the past 20 to 30 years. It's a bottle of Noval LB. Which Port it is does not matter at all. What it means to me matters enormously. Uncle Steve would never have opened this bottle and therefore neither shall I. It is now my favourite bottle of Port in my collection, trophy or otherwise.

Thanks, Uncle Steve, and thanks to Jess for giving it to me.

Derek

[Luc Gauthier]

Derek , although the vast majority of my interjections tend to be on the lighter or political side of things , I can't think of anything to say .

[Al B.]

I've got to say, I have nothing but the deepest respect for you choosing to share such a personal story with us. Thank you for doing so. I shall toast the memory of that special man to tonight.

[Peter W. Meek]

Derek,

I have no "trophy" wines, but I have several trophy objects of a similar nature to your bottle. I know the place where they live in your heart, along with the person they represent.

[Derek T.]

Luc, Alex and Peter,

Thanks for your thoughts.


Those and Others,

Please chip in with opinions on the original subject. My post has the potential to disuade people from discussing the original topic, which wasn't my intention.

So, do you have any trophies, or do you just pop them all with ruthless abandon?

[Eric Menchen]

Yes Derek, like Luc I didn't know what to say to that one. Enjoy that trophy bottle for what it is.

As for me, I'll open anything with people that will appreciate it--which might be a group of friends or just my wife and me (in accordance with the PWM Every Day is Worth Celebrating axiom). My trophy bottles are empties, which I have kept a few of.

[Derek T.]

I have hundreds of empty trophy bottles. My garage is filled with wine boxes full of empties from various tasting events, including most of the bottles from the first ever off-line

[Moses Botbol]

I have hundreds of empty trophy bottles. My garage is filled with wine boxes full of empties from various tasting events, including most of the bottles from the first ever off-line

I save the 19th century and older Madeira bottles, not so much with the port bottles. Have of the get tonged, the others just don't look that exciting compared to Madeira bottles. What will I do with them? Who knows, but I hope they do get put to use somehow.

[Espen S.]

My bottles are trophy bottles until they are ready to drink. I'm a wine drinker, not a collector.

[Roy Hersh]

Derek,

I have one "trophy" bottle of Port, (per se) but my story does not even begin to come close to yours. There will be evidence to come your way, to show you how moved I was by your post. Thank you for sharing.

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In 2003, after I was honored by the IVDP Confraria, a day or so later, I went to a dinner where there were lots of people from the Port trade. I was invited to dinner the next night by someone I had only met a few times prior to that, including here the previous month. He invited me to his home as a fellow "Brotherhood member" with my wife, 8 month old daughter and my mother (who had come along to Portugal to babysit Taylor so my wife could videotape the Confraria enthronement) which was one of the highlights of our amazing two weeks in Portugal.

We arrived at their lovely home and were greeted by he and his wife. He then took us out to his spacious backyard where there was an impressive group of Portmakers and their girlfriends or wives. I was blown away as they all came over to congratulate me and introduce themselves. The dinner was amazing and his wife was so charming and made my family feel so welcome in their home.

At one point in the evening our host came up to me and said, "I have something to show you." He took me into his extraordinary wine cellar and showed me the vast treasures of reds and whites from around the world and I was in awe at the depth of the collection. I lwas checking out some of the rarities from regions I am particularly fond of ... but he had wine from virtually all corners of earth. He then said, "please choose any bottle you would like, as my gift" and I replied politely, "I can not do that, but thank you for such a generous offer." He was gently insistent and would not take "no" for an answer. I finally said, that I felt very awkward and that I would prefer for him to choose a bottle, instead. He did and handed it to me. I just stared and stared and stared, from the bottle to him and back to the bottle and said nothing. He smiled and said, that he wanted me to have that bottle and I numbly mumbled my sincere thanks, standing their in disbelief, yet feeling weird about accepting such a bottle ... and would have felt that way, no matter who/when or where.

The bottle was one of the finest of the more than a dozen ancient Colheitas I opened on the occasion of my 50th birthday, attended by a number of FTLOP and other wine friends from No. America and the UK. I was glad that I was able to share such a bottle with so many good friends and people that I cared about. It was the 1863 Ferreira "Vezuvio" Colheita bottle (wish I knew how to post the picture here ) and you can see the TN either in the article on the homepage or in the TNDB. It was given to me by none other than Dirk van der Niepoort, a very special gift on a most memorable occasion. It remains as part of my "permanent" collection of extra-ordinary empty bottles of Port/Madeira and will remain on that shelf, until I depart from this earth.

[Tom D.]

Can't disagree with that at all. My wine motto has always been "Drink the best bottle first"

My cellar is stacked full of cardboard boxes and styro cases lying on their sides, wire racks with consstantly shifting bottles, and chrome shelf racks with bottles piled every which way on them. The place is a mess. There are no bottles in my cellar just to look at. For me, the fun is in the chase. Get on a waiting list and then send emails to the owner trying to get upgraded to the mailing list. Calling the importer to find every bottle of 1922 Madeira brought into the US in the past 2 years and then calling stores until I find the last bottle still in the retail distribution chain in the US and then buying it for my mother's 85th birthday. If I want to look at a bottle, I drink it first and look at the empty one. They're just as pretty. I have a beautiful double magnum of 1997 La Chapelle and I have the bottle of 1922 Madeira, which I will save. But full bottles are for drinking.

PS - The double magnum is empty!

[Rob C.]

Certainly I have not bought anything myself that I would not, ultimately, hope to drink - and from what I have read this does not seem to be out of line with the general consensus here.

But - for those who have substantial collections - at what stage can you imagine stopping/reducing your purchases and letting your collections gradually shrink as bottles are drunk and not replaced?

Would you be happy for your collection to dwindle, ultimately, down to a few bottles (with the painful process of watching the ever-increasing empty shelf-space in your cellar), or do you envisage leaving a treasure trove? (leaving aside any cases/bottles initially purchased specifically with children in mind)

[Peter W. Meek]

Certainly I have not bought anything myself that I would not, ultimately, hope to drink - and from what I have read this does not seem to be out of line with the general consensus here.

But - for those who have substantial collections - at what stage can you imagine stopping/reducing your purchases and letting your collections gradually shrink as bottles are drunk and not replaced?

Would you be happy for your collection to dwindle, ultimately, down to a few bottles (with the painful process of watching the ever-increasing empty shelf-space in your cellar), or do you envisage leaving a treasure trove? (leaving aside any cases/bottles initially purchased specifically with children in mind)

Mind you, my collection isn't all port, or even mostly port, but with the exception of a few of the ports (which will likely be still immature), I wouldn't mind if my last bottles were drunk at my wake.

[Eric Menchen]

Would you be happy for your collection to dwindle, ultimately, down to a few bottles (with the painful process of watching the ever-increasing empty shelf-space in your cellar), or do you envisage leaving a treasure trove? (leaving aside any cases/bottles initially purchased specifically with children in mind)

I'm with Peter here. I see this as retirement planning. For retirement I have a figure I need to reach so that I can take out so much every year until I die. For wine, and VP in particular, I plan to do the same thing. I want to have a cellar well enough stocked so that after some point I'm just withdrawing year after year as the cellar empties. The tough part is coming up with the magic number. How long will I live, and what will be my consumption rate?

[Peter W. Meek]

... How long will I live, and what will be my consumption rate?

Hard to fulfill both halves of the Vulcan Blessing, isn't it? (Live Long AND Prosper.)

[Glenn E.]

Derek, Roy,

Those are both awesome stories. I have nothing that can even come close!

Everything I buy is purchased to drink. Some bottles have small sentimental values added and so will require a slightly more suitable occasion before being opened, but most are just waiting for maturity and/or the right occasion. My stash of 1964s are all planned out - one per birthday for the next 20-ish years with the Nacional reserved for my retirement party - but nothing else is planned that far into the future.

My 1970 Martinez and 1977 Royal Oporto have slightly elevated sentimental values because they were two of my very first auction (and older bottle) purchases. I can no longer remember which one was actually first, and it's entirely possible they were purchased at the same time, but all that will be needed to get them opened is a few other FTLOPers present to enjoy them.

My 1938 Kopke Colheita will be opened for my Dad's 75th birthday. I wish I could find a 1939 (of any kind) for my Mom's birthday, but alas they are exceedingly rare.

I do have a row of empty trophy bottles, but nothing as impressive as Roy's. My first ever bottle of Port. My first Colheita. My first VP. My first magnum. Etc. Roy, you should post a picture of your wall so that people can stare in awe!

[Al B.]

Like most people who have posted here, everything I buy is intended to be drunk one day. Because of this, my first thought was that I don't have any trophy bottles - but then I thought I do have some bottles which have a lot of meaning to me and will be very special when I open them. Probably the most special will be the bottle of Noval Nacional '63 (I was born in'63) which I saved for ages to buy, and bought at Noval at the end of a fantastic day spent wandering the plot where the vines grew which were used to make the wine. A bottle which has a very special meaning for me and which will be opened to share with friends in 2013.

[Al B.]

I also have some special empties that sit on a display shelf in the house, these are generally firsts but some are just special bottles that come with special memories. These include the bottle of 1815 Royal Oporto from Roy's 50th birthday celebration, the first magnum I ever opened (an unknown 1907), a Croft 1945, the first Nacional I ever drank (the 1958), the first port I ever drank in Portugal (a Malvedos 1979). Although I rarely drink table wines these days there are also some bottles of table wines on the empty bottle trophy shelf. These include a bottle of Leoville Poyferre 1945 and a selection of Mouton Rothschild vintages that were drunk at a Mouton Rothschild dinner that my wife and I went to 2-3 years ago.

[Daniel R.]

Certainly I have not bought anything myself that I would not, ultimately, hope to drink - and from what I have read this does not seem to be out of line with the general consensus here.

But - for those who have substantial collections - at what stage can you imagine stopping/reducing your purchases and letting your collections gradually shrink as bottles are drunk and not replaced?

Would you be happy for your collection to dwindle, ultimately, down to a few bottles (with the painful process of watching the ever-increasing empty shelf-space in your cellar), or do you envisage leaving a treasure trove? (leaving aside any cases/bottles initially purchased specifically with children in mind)

Everything I buy is meant to be drunk at some point in the future. I guess I do not have the collector instinct. I buy (on a limited budget) a mix of wine to drink in the near future and wine that will age in my cellar. Unless I have financial problems I will never stop/reduce purchasing Port. My collection is also my parents' collection and it will be my children's collection (they are still too young to drink).