Selling vintage port

Port to sell? Excellent! Please post here, with details of what you have, how stored, and where in the world it is. Please start by reading our ‘Standard advice to would-be vendors' and ‘A note to wine merchants’.
Post Reply
dscowley
Cruz Ruby
Posts: 1
Joined: 20:07 Fri 04 Mar 2016

Selling vintage port

Post by dscowley »

Hi port friends. I have two bottles which I would like to sell. I have read jdaws1 excellent words on the subject of selling through auctions etc but thought I'd mention it here first. I have one bottle of Offley Boa Vista 1982 and one of Dows 1966. I have had them many years, the Dows from 1970, turning regularly, and they should be in good condition with no leakage or loss from either. The 1966 has some wine staining on the label but that was from a neighbouring bottle that I was forced to remove from the rack and drink with a friend. Anyone have interest or advice?

Dscowley
User avatar
jdaw1
Cockburn 1851
Posts: 23613
Joined: 15:03 Thu 21 Jun 2007
Location: London
Contact:

Re: Selling vintage port

Post by jdaw1 »

dscowley wrote:Hi port friends. I have two bottles which I would like to sell. I have read jdaws1 excellent words on the subject of selling through auctions etc but thought I'd mention it here first. I have one bottle of Offley Boa Vista 1982 and one of Dows 1966. I have had them many years, the Dows from 1970, turning regularly, and they should be in good condition with no leakage or loss from either. The 1966 has some wine staining on the label but that was from a neighbouring bottle that I was forced to remove from the rack and drink with a friend. Anyone have interest or advice?
I’m sorry to be the bearer of (mostly) bad news.

• OBV 1982 is worthless. Maybe a tenner. Maybe less.

• “turning regularly”: excellent for Champagne, not for Port.

• Happily Dow’s 1966 is good Port, despite being turned. But one bottle will not raise much money. Consider being “forced to remove from the rack and drink with a friend” — or bring to one of our bring-a-bottle-to-share tastings.
PhilW
Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
Posts: 3503
Joined: 14:22 Wed 15 Dec 2010
Location: Near Cambridge, UK

Re: Selling vintage port

Post by PhilW »

JDAW's comments are correct - the Offley '82 is of little value, whereas the Dow '66 is lovely port.

As it is 2016, the prices on 1966 ports have gone up significantly for the 50th birthday market; a year or two ago bottles of Dow '66 would retail for around £90, whereas this year due to 50th birthday market they are retailing for roughly double that (assuming well kept, good levels etc, and noting that as a private seller you would likely achieve perhaps just over half of that).

This has two effects:
(i) you may be able to get more money for your bottle this year due to the inflated price during 50th birthday year
(ii) you are less likely to find a buyer on this forum, since most of us would not pay the inflated price during this year, but rather wait until price return closer to normal next year.

As it is a single bottle, and in the current market condition, if you do not find interest here then I would probably suggest ebay or bidforwine as a suitable way to sell your bottle.
User avatar
DRT
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15779
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Contact:

Re: Selling vintage port

Post by DRT »

You could consider bringing your bottle of Dow 1966 to this tasting. You would be very welcome and it would give you the opportunity to taste many different bottles from that vintage.

I agree with the comments above regarding the OBV 1982.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
Post Reply