Pointless Statistics

Anything to do with Port.
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uncle tom
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by uncle tom »

I'd be curious to know your equivalent percentages for 21yr+ ('drinking ready');
59.2% of my VP is over 21yrs old

The average age of my VP is currently 30 years, 7 months, 14 days, 20 hours and 17 minutes

The collective age of all my VP is currently 137,746 years and 255 days, gaining an additional day every 19.2 seconds!
I may be drunk, Miss, but in the morning I shall be sober and you will still be ugly - W.S. Churchill
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Alex Bridgeman
Graham’s 1948
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

PhilW wrote:
AHB wrote:The top 5 shippers in my cellar are Vesuvio (15%), Fonseca (8%), Warre (8%), Graham (8%) and Smith Woodhouse (6%). The top 5 vintages are 1963 (10%), 1994 (7%), 1977 (6%), 1985 (6%), 1997 (6%). There are 409 different combinations of shipper and vintage in my cellar.
I'd be curious to know your equivalent percentages for 21yr+ ('drinking ready'); I was surprised not to find Dow in the above (my percentages would start with Warre>Fonseca>Vesuvio>rest, but I expected Dow higher in yours).
If I look at what is ready for drinking (ie. 1992 vintage or older), I find the following:
Fonseca 10%, Graham 10%, Warre 9%, Dow 8%, Taylor 7%
1963 (16%), 1977 (10%), 1985 (10%), 1970 (5%) and 1983 (5%)
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
PhilW
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by PhilW »

Thanks Alex, Tom for the replies.
Alex - I am not so surprised by your %s for "ready for drinking" port, your earlier stats imply that you must have much less young Dow. On checking my own collection for interest/comparison, I was very surprised to find that I in fact own Dow at all; While I'm reticent about Dow77 due to the number of corked bottles out there, and Dow80 for never being ready to drink, I wasn't expecting a zero... will have to remedy that.
LGTrotter
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by LGTrotter »

It's nearly that time of year when this rich seam is mined anew.

I love a spreadsheet.
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

LGTrotter wrote:It's nearly that time of year when this rich seam is mined anew.

I love a spreadsheet.
Be careful what you wish for! The slightest encouragement and I'm off...
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
LGTrotter
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by LGTrotter »

AHB wrote:
LGTrotter wrote:It's nearly that time of year when this rich seam is mined anew.

I love a spreadsheet.
Be careful what you wish for! The slightest encouragement and I'm off...
Oh go on, you know you want to!
PhilW
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by PhilW »

[alert]Calling all statisticians with initials AHB... the year has ended... [/alert]
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

I have a bit of work to do, a cup of tea to make and then will turn to some pointless statistics.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
LGTrotter
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by LGTrotter »

I've been breathless with anticipation for this you tease, with a bit of luck Tom might weigh in too. Then the festive season will be complete.
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

So here we go. Tasting note statistics first:

In 2013 I wrote 496 tasting notes on 495 different bottles of port (the most I have ever managed in a single year)! 108 of these were in May, which is the most tasting notes I have managed in a month since I started keeping records in 2004 (the previous most being 104).

93 of these tasting notes were on the 2011 vintage, 56 on 1963, 34 on 1970, 27 on 1983, 26 on NV ports, 23 on 2007, 21 on 1977, 19 on 1966, 17 on 1985, 12 on 1960, 12 on 2000. No other vintage had more than 10 notes taken on it. 26 of the 495 bottles were 75 years old or more, but only 5 were vintage dated and over 100 years old. The most unusual bottles I tasted were probably from 1993 - the Crasto LBV - and 1973 - the Martinez Crusted.

The shippers I drank most often were Taylor (50), Noval (43 - including 12 Nacionals!), Graham (37), Warre (34), Dow (32), Niepoort (27), Fonseca (24), Sandeman (23), Cockburn (21), Croft (12), Ramos Pinto (12), Dalva (10) and Vesuvio (10).

The best port I drank in 2013 was the Quinta do Noval 1931 - the second best was the Quinta do Noval 1927, from magnum. The most prestigious was Noval Nacional 1931 (which I rated as 90/100).
My scores across all 495 bottles were:
100 - 1
99 - 1
98 - 6
97 - 11
96 - 9
95 - 23
94 - 37
93 - 35
92 - 46
91 - 33
90 - 44
89 - 39
88 - 43
87 - 33
86 - 28
85 - 32
84 - 26
83 - 12
82 - 9
81 - 1
80 - 3
79 - 0
78 - 0
77 - 1
76 - 1
Less than 76 - 3

I took 92 bottles of port out of my cellar during 2013, which had an average age of 43 years and 157 days.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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djewesbury
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by djewesbury »

Your curve of scores used to peak around 89; vintage port seems to be getting better!
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Glenn E.
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Glenn E. »

djewesbury wrote:Your curve of scores used to peak around 89; vintage port seems to be getting better!
This looks like a fairly normal distribution for Alex, at least to me. Though yes, without plotting a graph this curve does seem to center at 90 instead of 89.
Glenn Elliott
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

djewesbury wrote:Your curve of scores used to peak around 89; vintage port seems to be getting better!
Or I am becoming more fussy in my drinking - I have had some pretty good bottles this year.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
LGTrotter
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by LGTrotter »

Any chance of a breakdown of your cellar? That is an exquisite pleasure.
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

LGTrotter wrote:Any chance of a breakdown of your cellar? That is an exquisite pleasure.
In due course, much will be updated.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
PhilW
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by PhilW »

Interesting statistics as always, thank you. I'm particularly impressed with:
AHB wrote:In 2013 I wrote 496 tasting notes on 495 different bottles of port
not only by the huge variety of ports within a year, but that you also seem to have almost avoided any duplication of tasting notes whatsoever! Also your "only" 5 being over 100 years old made me smile :roll:
LGTrotter
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by LGTrotter »

And 26 were more than 75 years old!
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

PhilW wrote:Interesting statistics as always, thank you. I'm particularly impressed with:
AHB wrote:In 2013 I wrote 496 tasting notes on 495 different bottles of port
not only by the huge variety of ports within a year, but that you also seem to have almost avoided any duplication of tasting notes whatsoever! Also your "only" 5 being over 100 years old made me smile :roll:
I might have lacked clarity in what I wrote - I was trying to say that there were 495 different bottles (/half bottle / magnum / tappit hen / double magnum) opened and tasted. One of these was tasted twice - actually just after opening and a few hours later.

I wasn't trying to say that I had only tasted Graham 1970 once during 2013. In fact, my most frequently tasted port last year was the Taylor 1970 last year - 6 different bottles. It's a hard life!

I guess that's not quite strictly true. For each of the 2011 ports I gave an extended tasting I would have written 4 notes and then condensed these into a single overall impression and made a single note that has been included in the 496 total quoted above. I gave extended tastings to 43 different 2011 ports so there would have been another 172 tastings notes in addition to the 496, but the total number of bottles would have remained at 495.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Now for some cellar statistics:

92% of my cellar is Port, 3% Bordeaux, 2% Champagne, 1% Australian and the rest bits and pieces with no single source accounting for more than 0.5% of my bottles.

88% of my Port corks are in 75 or 70cl bottles, 9% in half bottles, 3% in large formats.

69% of my Port is Vintage Port, 24% is single quinta VP, 5% is LBV, 1% is Crusted and the remainder is NV, odds and sods and brown sticky stuff.

I have 446 different ports. 9% is from the 2011 vintage, 8% is from 1963 and 6% from 1994. 56% of my Port stocks are ready for drinking (ie. 21 or more years old).

15% of my Port is Vesuvio, 8% is Graham and 8% is Warre.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
LGTrotter
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by LGTrotter »

The nice thing about percentages is that I don't feel too intimidated to add my own vital statistics. Even if the maths wonks among us can work it out I feel less naked.

Thanks Alex, I can now declare Christmas over, although perhaps Tom may give a late present yet.

Oh yes, I assume Alex that 15% Vesuvio represents the highest proportion of one shipper/Quinta?
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

Yep. I can confirm that Vesuvio represents the shipper with the largest percentage of my cellar.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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djewesbury
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Pointless Statistics

Post by djewesbury »

I like that you drank 495 ports and your cellar took a hit of only 92 bottles. That's good going!
How much of your port is at home and how much in storage, just in percentage terms?
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DRT
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by DRT »

djewesbury wrote:I like that you drank 495 ports and your cellar took a hit of only 92 bottles. That's good going!
How much of your port is at home and how much in storage, just in percentage terms?
To be fair, 45 of the 92 were drunk by people who brought nothing to share :roll:

!and AHB's stats represent an average of fewer than five attendees per tasting, which isn't bad going.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

djewesbury wrote:I like that you drank 495 ports and your cellar took a hit of only 92 bottles. That's good going!
The biggest tastings I attended were:
(1) The BFT (59) and pre / post tastings (79 including the latter)
(2) The 1963 Quinquagenary (47)
(3) My extended tasting of the 2011 vintage ports (43)
(4) The Berry Brothers Port Walk and the offline after (22)
(5) The Taylor Vertical (20)
There were no other tastings I attended at which I took more than 20 tasting notes.
djewesbury wrote:How much of your port is at home and how much in storage, just in percentage terms?
I keep about 18-24 months of wine / port at home which I find is enough to keep me going with my planned drinking but also offers some flexibility for spontaneity. Around the end of the summer I start to plan what I want to drink the following year. I decide the number of my bottles of port I want to consume and what these will be. The profile of the consumption is the same each year since my stocks have been designed to yield this age profile for a couple of decades at least. The profile being:
4% under 11 years since vintage
3% 11-16 years
5% 17-21 years
15% 22-29 years
26% 30-39 years
15% 40-49 years
5% 50-59 years
4% 60-69 years
1% 70-79 years
3% 80-99 years
3% 100+ years
9% from my birth year (1963)
8% other - non-vintage, unknown or something extra added to the list above

There are certain bottles which I have enough of to open every year (Croft 2004 LBV, for example) and certain vintages I can include every year (eg. 1955) but the whole exercise is quite good fun and takes a couple of weeks. I won't plan to duplicate a particular port in a year's drinking, but this usually does end up happening through offlines or me just grabbing what comes to hand. When planning, I first look at what I have on hand and use those as the core of the planned drinking list. Next I look at what I have in off-site storage which fills the gaps and when I will have space at home to accommodate a new case. This then gets planned into the drinking list for later in the year and a diary note made to arrange to take a case out of storage at a particular time. Sometimes I take a case out and then re-deposit 6 bottles for future years. It sounds complicated, but I rather enjoy the whole exercise and it helps build up the sense of anticipation for the future. Some of our fellow forum members tease me about my methodical approach to planning my drinking, but I don't care - it works for me.

And as an example, last year's withdrawals from my cellar were:
Cockburn (½) 1955
Taylor LBV 2003
Smith Woodhouse LBV 1986
Noval 1927
Noval 1931
Warre 1922
Cockburn 1908
Taylor 1970
Warre Traditional LBV 1994
Croft LBV (½) 2004
Fonseca Crusted 2001
Warre (Tappit Hen) 1977
Dow (Tappit Hen) 1977
Grahams (Tappit Hen) 1977
Malvedos (Grahams) 1986
Taylor 1920
Taylors Special Quinta 1950
Taylor 1977
Vargellas 1976
Port Society Finest Reserve NV
Smith Woodhouse (½) 1983
Warre 1991
Mellor LBV (Bucheiro) 1989
Noval Crusted 1965
Warre (½) 1985
Sandeman LBV 2008
Fonseca 1970
Grahams 1966
Taylor 1983
Warre Traditional LBV 1982
James & McCabe fine crusted 1984
Fonseca - Guimaraens 1984
Unknown shipper (was Graham) u/k
Dow 1983
Martinez 1970
Adam's 1963
Andresen 1963
Avery Special Reserve 1963
Borges 1963
Burmester 1963
Cachao (Messias) 1963
Calem 1963
Cockburn 1963
Constantino (OWC) 1963
Croft 1963
Dalva 1963
Delaforce 1963
Dow 1963
Ferreira (OWC) 1963
Feuerheerd 1963
Fonseca 1963
Foz, Quinta do 1963
Gonzalez Byass 1963
Gould Campbell 1963
Grahams 1963
Krohn 1963
Mackenzie 1963
Martinez 1963
Morgan 1963
Niepoort 1963
Noval 1963
Noval Nacional 1963
Offley Boa Vista 1963
Pocas Junior 1963
Quarles Harris 1963
Real Companhia Velha 1963
Rebello Valente 1963
Royal Oporto 1963
Real Vinicola 1963
Sandeman 1963
Pinto dos Santos 1963
Sibio 1963
Souza, Viera de 1963
Taylor 1963
De la Rosa 1963
Warre 1963
Berry Brothers (Taylor) 1963
Warre (Tappit Hen) 1977
Dow 1960
Churchill 1985
Delaforce (owc) 1977
Croft LBV (½) 2004
Martinez (believed) 1922
Warre Traditional LBV 1984
Morgan 1991
Warre 1970
Gould Campbell 1977
Unknown shipper (Hatch Mansfield) 1858
Malvedos (Grahams) 1976
Cockburn 1947
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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Alex Bridgeman
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Re: Pointless Statistics

Post by Alex Bridgeman »

A small mid-year snippet of pointlessness. Over the 10 year life of my accumulated tasting-notebooks, I have tasted 15 pre-phylloxera Ports of which only the Loureiro 1871 has been tasted twice.

1815 - 2
1830 - 1
1851 - 1
1853 - 1
1855 - 1
1858 - 1
1863 - 4
1871 - 2
1873 - 2

15 tasting notes accounts for just under 0.5% of the 3,095 tasting notes that I have written to date.
Top Ports in 2023: Taylor 1896 Colheita, b. 2021. A perfect Port.

2024: Niepoort 1900 Colheita, b.1971. A near perfect Port.
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