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Found a bottle of this in my late father-in-law's loft, where it has been stored since he was given it in probably the 1990s. Been sitting on my kitchen table for a month or two. We won't drink it. Any offers from anyone out there who will? For collection from West Horsley in Surrey.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it’s worth about nothing. A tenner would be a very good sale — unlikely to be achieved here.

Have you a friend (or enemy—it won’t be very good) to whom you could give it? (We have one tasting note of RO82, not flattering six years ago, since when it will have deteriorated.)

I'm afraid I would agree with JDAW's assessment that this bottle is of little value (less than the cost to send it anywhere), since: The year was generally poor, with a few exceptions; Royal Oporto is not one of the better brands; most lofts experience wide temperature fluctuations throughout the year which will ruin most wine. As such I'm afraid this bottle is a poor wine, likely to be in very poor condition. I'm sorry we don't have better news for you.

I'd suggest that the best use of this particular bottle is likely to be in cooking - but check the port before using it! It's likely to make a very nice reduction and/or glaze for gammon or sausages or similar.

Thank you all for your frank and honest opinions! Perhaps I will find some culinary use for it as suggested, otherwise it will go down the sink...

SarahJDR wrote:Thank you all for your frank and honest opinions! Perhaps I will find some culinary use for it as suggested, otherwise it will go down the sink...

Do give it a taste... there's some chance that it will be fine. The brand in this case makes that less likely, but even if it's a bad* bottle by the standards of a bunch of Port geeks like us, it might taste just fine to you.

* "bad" in this case does not mean spoiled/rotten; merely "not up to standards." It's extremely rare for a bottle of Port to actually be spoiled/rotten.