For The Love Of Port

Hey everyone. I've been tasting port over the last few years on and off and lately things have fallen into place to allow me a bottle now and then. I have had many LBV's now, a few 10 and 20 yr Tawneys and a few very good rubies (Noval Black!). What I want to try is a mature VP. I don't have a lot of money to throw around on a case, but I would like to try one none the less. If anyone has an extra 375ml bottle of something they would be willing to sell me at a decent price let me know. I'm not looking for the "best" out there, just something that would be categorized as a "mature" or near mature VP. Thanks for any help.

Tim

PS: If anyone is around MN I would love to stop by to pick it up in person.

I bought 375s of 1963 Croft, 1977 Warre's, and 1983 Graham's at winebid.com. Sorry, I drank them all.

Sorry, the only 375s of VP that I have are 2003 Quinta da Gaivosa, so not really mature. Otherwise I'd be happy to help!

Now if you want a Colheita...

I know where there is a '70 Taylor and a few '97 Ramos Pinto 375's for sale local to me. I do not think they ship though.

Tim - does work or leisure ever bring you over to the UK? If it does then I'm sure we can organise an opportunity for you to try some mature VP

Alex

Tim, there is a half of 1985 Graham's on WineBid right now, although I wouldn't really call that "mature" at only 25 years old. Most recent notes on that wine, including mine, indicate just a bit of secondary development. It's not real common to see older VP halves for sale. And while you might find a cheap/bad VP that is "mature" at a young age, I'm not sure you're doing yourself much of a service by drinking bad mature VP.

If you just want to taste a decent mature VP, I'm sure you could look up any FTLOP'er in your vicinity and they'd be glad to share -- any excuse to open an old bottle. My oldest VP in 375 is coincientally the 1985 Graham's. I won't sell any, but if you're ever in Madison, just give a shout, and I'll be glad to open one of those or something older.

Tom D. wrote:Tim, there is a half of 1985 Graham's on WineBid right now, although I wouldn't really call that "mature" at only 25 years old. Most recent notes on that wine, including mine, indicate just a bit of secondary development.

That might be a good one to pick up, though, because 375s typically mature slightly faster than 750s.

Plus even though the 1985 Graham isn't fully mature yet, it's drinking so beautifully right now that you'll love it regardless.

I wish I could help, but I only have one old 375 and that is from 1955. Otherwise, all of my half bottles are from 1991 and 1994 (maybe a half dozen total) and a dozen from 1997. That's it. So I am probably not in any place to help out either. Have you checked into the TNDB and found Ports of interest and then clicked through to Winesearcher.com? That is how I recently found a 1941 Quinta do Noval Colheita that was just hanging out waiting for someone to buy it.