Port Prices of Vintages on Release?

[Alex Bridgeman]

The '96 Vesuvio is an interesting quirk. I don't know what the production volumes were like - whether there was far more made of it than either in previous or following years - but I suspect that for some reason Berry's bought far more of it than they needed for their customers.

Ever since 1998, Berry's have had the '96 on their stock list. It features frequently in their sales and tastings and often receives a great deal of promotion.

A few months ago, I asked Berry's to let me know what they would offer for the wines that they hold in reserve for me. While they were prepared to make handsome offers for some of the wines I have, the 1996 Vesuvio was not something that they were interested in. I suspect that Berry's are overstocked in this particular wine and the frequent discounting that they do is having its own impact on the UK auction market.

Alex

[uncle tom]

Across the board with Vesuvio, I get the feeling that too much has been sold as an investment (in this country, at least) and too little sold to those who plan to drink it.

Maybe the fancy packaging deters people from opening a botltle...

Tom