Looking back over 2017, this is the first year since starting to build up the cellar where I have taken more bottles out of the cellar than I have put in. At the of the start of 2018, my cellar comprises the following (2017 values in brackets for comparison):
Port by type:
81% Vintage/SQVP (82%)
9% LBV (9%)
3% Crusted (4%)
6% Tawny/colheita/white (6%)
Vintage port by shipper:
The producers with highest representation for VP in my cellar are Fonseca at 23% (23%), Warre at 22% (23%) and Graham at 9% (9%).
Vintage port by years:
The years with highest representation for VP in my cellar are 1970, 1985, and then 1977 (previously 1970, 1977 and then 1985).
The above figures show minimal overall change; the underlying detail also shows:
- a notable reduction in representation of '77s (due to drinking them).
- a notable increase in '85s (from purchasing).
- the lack of Dow has been partially repaired.
Pointless Statistics
Re: Pointless Statistics
I am very late this year, but I have finally updated my stats. Thus I can see that as of 1st Jan 18 my port 'cellar' held the following:
Taylor 13% (15%) last year
Dow 12% (8%)
Fonseca 11% (14%)
Graham 9% (11%)
Warre 9% (8%)
If port is ready to be drunk at 21 years of age then 63% is 'ready' and the top 4 vintages are:
1977 12% (15%)
2011 10%
1994 9%
1970 8%
5.1% of my port is in magnum or Tappit Hen
4.3% is in half bottles
I opened bottles from 25 different vintages and 25 different shippers in 2017 (plus Tesco, Avery and BBR which I am not sure how to classify!) 6% was Tawny/Colheita, 6% was LBV and 12% SQVP
Taylor 13% (15%) last year
Dow 12% (8%)
Fonseca 11% (14%)
Graham 9% (11%)
Warre 9% (8%)
If port is ready to be drunk at 21 years of age then 63% is 'ready' and the top 4 vintages are:
1977 12% (15%)
2011 10%
1994 9%
1970 8%
5.1% of my port is in magnum or Tappit Hen
4.3% is in half bottles
I opened bottles from 25 different vintages and 25 different shippers in 2017 (plus Tesco, Avery and BBR which I am not sure how to classify!) 6% was Tawny/Colheita, 6% was LBV and 12% SQVP
Re: Pointless Statistics
I was fairly restrained in my purchases last year - until two 'turkey shoot' sales cropped up late in the year at Bonhams and Christies.
This has resulted in my collection of vintage port now topping one thousand imperial gallons, with an average bottle age of just over one billion seconds.
The collective age of my VP now advances by one day every 14.5 seconds and is currently just under 192,000 years in total..
This has resulted in my collection of vintage port now topping one thousand imperial gallons, with an average bottle age of just over one billion seconds.
The collective age of my VP now advances by one day every 14.5 seconds and is currently just under 192,000 years in total..
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
Re: Pointless Statistics
I recall you telling me about a decade ago that you planned to keep your collection at around 2,000 bottles. 500+ case is slightly more than that
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
Ernest H. Cockburn
Re: Pointless Statistics
Would you believe it, this is my 10th annual posting of pointless statistics? I also had a look back to that first post and have noted how things have changed over the decade in italics.
At the end of 2018, I had a cellar which was composed of:
90.4% Port (90.8% last year; 82% in December 2008)
3.3% Bordeaux (3.4%;2008-7%)
1.2% Champagne (1.2%)
0.9% Australian (0.9%; 2008-2%)
0.8% South African (0.8%)
0.6% Spain (0.7%)
2.8% Other (2.2%), each less than 0.5% individually (including English, Hungarian, US, NZ, Lebanese, Portuguese, Chilean and other regions in France).
I added 257 (209) bottles of Port to the cellar this year, although quite a few came in and went straight back out as part of shared purchases. The oldest added was from 1920 (1870) and the youngest from 2016 (2015).
Using the 21 year rule, 64% (64%; 2008-42%) of my Port is ready for drinking, implying that almost none of my cellar comes from the 1998 vintage.
The average age of the Port in my cellar is 35 years and 135 days (34 years, 2 days).
88% (89%; 2008-96%) of the undrawn Port corks I own are in 75cl bottles, 8% (7%; 2008-4%) in half bottles or smaller and 4% (4%; 2008-none) magnum or larger. 66% (67%) of the containers hold Vintage Port (which includes Quinta do Noval but excludes Quinta do Vesuvio), 26% (26%; 96% was Vintage or SQVP in 2008) hold Single Quinta Vintage Port (including Quinta do Vesuvio), 5% (5%; 2008-2%) hold LBV, 1% (1%; 2008-2%) hold Crusted and 2% (2%) hold other stuff. I own 16 (9; 2008-1) bottles of Port which would be considered Colheita Port under current regulations.
The shippers making up the largest share of my Port cellar are Quinta do Vesuvio (14%, was 14%; 34%), Graham (9%, was 9%; 5% in December 2008), Warre (7%, was 7%) and Fonseca (7%, was 7%; 10% in December 2008). Looking only at the Port ready for drinking the picture changes slightly to be Warre (10%, was 10%), Fonseca (9%, was 9%), Graham (8%, was 9%) and Vesuvio (8%, was 9%).
8% (8%; 0%) of my port is from the 2011 vintage with another 7% (8%; 13%) from 1963; 5% (6%; 9%) is from 1994.
I have 564 different Ports in my cellar.
Pointless statistics on my tasting notes will follow at some point in the future when I have caught up with my tasting notes.
At the end of 2018, I had a cellar which was composed of:
90.4% Port (90.8% last year; 82% in December 2008)
3.3% Bordeaux (3.4%;2008-7%)
1.2% Champagne (1.2%)
0.9% Australian (0.9%; 2008-2%)
0.8% South African (0.8%)
0.6% Spain (0.7%)
2.8% Other (2.2%), each less than 0.5% individually (including English, Hungarian, US, NZ, Lebanese, Portuguese, Chilean and other regions in France).
I added 257 (209) bottles of Port to the cellar this year, although quite a few came in and went straight back out as part of shared purchases. The oldest added was from 1920 (1870) and the youngest from 2016 (2015).
Using the 21 year rule, 64% (64%; 2008-42%) of my Port is ready for drinking, implying that almost none of my cellar comes from the 1998 vintage.
The average age of the Port in my cellar is 35 years and 135 days (34 years, 2 days).
88% (89%; 2008-96%) of the undrawn Port corks I own are in 75cl bottles, 8% (7%; 2008-4%) in half bottles or smaller and 4% (4%; 2008-none) magnum or larger. 66% (67%) of the containers hold Vintage Port (which includes Quinta do Noval but excludes Quinta do Vesuvio), 26% (26%; 96% was Vintage or SQVP in 2008) hold Single Quinta Vintage Port (including Quinta do Vesuvio), 5% (5%; 2008-2%) hold LBV, 1% (1%; 2008-2%) hold Crusted and 2% (2%) hold other stuff. I own 16 (9; 2008-1) bottles of Port which would be considered Colheita Port under current regulations.
The shippers making up the largest share of my Port cellar are Quinta do Vesuvio (14%, was 14%; 34%), Graham (9%, was 9%; 5% in December 2008), Warre (7%, was 7%) and Fonseca (7%, was 7%; 10% in December 2008). Looking only at the Port ready for drinking the picture changes slightly to be Warre (10%, was 10%), Fonseca (9%, was 9%), Graham (8%, was 9%) and Vesuvio (8%, was 9%).
8% (8%; 0%) of my port is from the 2011 vintage with another 7% (8%; 13%) from 1963; 5% (6%; 9%) is from 1994.
I have 564 different Ports in my cellar.
Pointless statistics on my tasting notes will follow at some point in the future when I have caught up with my tasting notes.
Top Ports in 2018 (so far): Niepoort VV (1960's Bottling), Quinta do Noval Nacional 1994 and San Leonardo Very Old White (Bottled 2018)
2017 Ports of the year: Fonseca 1927 and Quinta do Noval 1927
2017 Ports of the year: Fonseca 1927 and Quinta do Noval 1927
Re: Pointless Statistics
For the eighth year in a row I consumed exactly 48 bottles of vintage port at home last year, with an average age of 43.8 years compared to 44.1 years in 2017
I currently have 874 different ports, of which 616 are vintage.
Average age of my VP as of Jan 1st was 32 years, ten months and 24 days
Collectively, my vintage port gains another bottle year of age every 88 minutes and 5 seconds (16.35 years per day)
I currently have 874 different ports, of which 616 are vintage.
Average age of my VP as of Jan 1st was 32 years, ten months and 24 days
Collectively, my vintage port gains another bottle year of age every 88 minutes and 5 seconds (16.35 years per day)
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
Re: Pointless Statistics
Thus an update to my Pointless Statistics.....
In 2018 I opened bottles from 29 different vintages from my cellar. With 1977 being the vintage with I opened most often, followed by 1970 and 1966.
Graham was again the favourite shipper being opened more than 50% more often than any other and ahead of Warre and Dow in 2nd and 3rd places.
Despite my best efforts to drink down the cellar the overall number of bottles in the cellar seem to have been multiplying again this year. I now find that only 60.5% (63%) of my bottles are ready to be drunk, indicating I bought some 2016 and could not resist the relative value of 2000/03 VP, and that these purchases outweighed the older VP purchases.
The shippers in my cellar have been changing and are now much more equally distributed:
Graham 11% (9% last year)
Taylor 10% (13%)
Fonseca 10% (11%)
Warre 10% (9%)
Dow 9% (12%)
With the vintages being led by 1977 11% (12%), 2011 10% (10%) and 1994 9% (9%)
I seem to have lost track of my non fortified wine which I must remedy thus not sure the current % that Port makes up in the cellar.
In 2018 I opened bottles from 29 different vintages from my cellar. With 1977 being the vintage with I opened most often, followed by 1970 and 1966.
Graham was again the favourite shipper being opened more than 50% more often than any other and ahead of Warre and Dow in 2nd and 3rd places.
Despite my best efforts to drink down the cellar the overall number of bottles in the cellar seem to have been multiplying again this year. I now find that only 60.5% (63%) of my bottles are ready to be drunk, indicating I bought some 2016 and could not resist the relative value of 2000/03 VP, and that these purchases outweighed the older VP purchases.
The shippers in my cellar have been changing and are now much more equally distributed:
Graham 11% (9% last year)
Taylor 10% (13%)
Fonseca 10% (11%)
Warre 10% (9%)
Dow 9% (12%)
With the vintages being led by 1977 11% (12%), 2011 10% (10%) and 1994 9% (9%)
I seem to have lost track of my non fortified wine which I must remedy thus not sure the current % that Port makes up in the cellar.
Re: Pointless Statistics
Charles's note has made me realise that I can also talk about the bottles which came out of my cellar this year, without having to wait to finish typing up my tasting notes.
The shippers which came out of my cellar most often in 2018 were Warre (11 bottles including Cavadinha) followed by Dow (9 bottles) and Graham (9 bottles including Malvedos). The vintages which came out most often were 1963 (9) and 1985 (8).
The shippers which came out of my cellar most often in 2018 were Warre (11 bottles including Cavadinha) followed by Dow (9 bottles) and Graham (9 bottles including Malvedos). The vintages which came out most often were 1963 (9) and 1985 (8).
Top Ports in 2018 (so far): Niepoort VV (1960's Bottling), Quinta do Noval Nacional 1994 and San Leonardo Very Old White (Bottled 2018)
2017 Ports of the year: Fonseca 1927 and Quinta do Noval 1927
2017 Ports of the year: Fonseca 1927 and Quinta do Noval 1927
Re: Pointless Statistics
As I enjoy reading the same from others, here is my own updated cellar stats looking back over the last year.
At the of the start of 2019, my cellar comprises the following (2018 values in brackets for comparison):
Port by type:
80% Vintage/SQVP (81%)
7% LBV (9%)
3% Crusted (3%)
10% Tawny/colheita/white (6%)
Vintage port by shipper:
The producers with highest representation for VP in my cellar are Warre at 22% (22%), Fonseca at 21% (23%) and Graham at 8% (9%).
Vintage port by years:
The years with highest representation for VP in my cellar are 1970, then 1985 and 1977 tied (previously 1970, 1977 and then 1985).
Overall no large changes, except for the increase in tawny/colheita.
At the of the start of 2019, my cellar comprises the following (2018 values in brackets for comparison):
Port by type:
80% Vintage/SQVP (81%)
7% LBV (9%)
3% Crusted (3%)
10% Tawny/colheita/white (6%)
Vintage port by shipper:
The producers with highest representation for VP in my cellar are Warre at 22% (22%), Fonseca at 21% (23%) and Graham at 8% (9%).
Vintage port by years:
The years with highest representation for VP in my cellar are 1970, then 1985 and 1977 tied (previously 1970, 1977 and then 1985).
Overall no large changes, except for the increase in tawny/colheita.