What to do with 6 bottles Caleb 1985
What to do with 6 bottles Caleb 1985
Thorny one. I live in Australia, over in UK sorting out my mother's house after she passed away. There are 6 bottles of Caleb 1985 port. Unfortunately they show some signs of leakage. My dilemma - Option 1 shipping to OZ attracts duty and taxes that are prohibitive. Option 2 drink it -bit two problems, limited time and effectively stealing from my kids in Australia for whom the port was intended. Options 3 sell it - but I guess the leakage is likely to affect value. Any suggestions?
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- Dalva Golden White Colheita 1952
- Posts: 3515
- Joined: 14:22 Wed 15 Dec 2010
- Location: Near Cambridge, UK
Re: What to do with 6 bottles Caleb 1985
Hi cstuart, welcome to . I can understand your dilemma; perhaps a compromise approach might work, drink most of them and take 1 or 2 back to share with the children? I'm assuming that if you wrap them well and take them in your checked luggage, such a small quantity might be allowed and avoid duty/tax, as well as solving the shipping costs?
As far as value is concerned, I'm assuming this is Calem (vs Caleb) 1985, which would normally retail for around £50/bottle; that means if your bottles were in impeccable condition from good storage, you might be looking for £25-30/bottle; however from the description of them all showing signs of seepage, this is not good for the likely quality or price; you might perhaps get £10-15/bottle - and at that level packing/delivery starts to be an issue, so you might not get any interest depending where you are located.
It would therefore seem better to me to drink them locally (and/or give some to friends?), and either save one or two to take with you - or alternatively, perhaps drink them and then "replace" them with something similar (another main shipper from 1985) once back in Oz?
As far as value is concerned, I'm assuming this is Calem (vs Caleb) 1985, which would normally retail for around £50/bottle; that means if your bottles were in impeccable condition from good storage, you might be looking for £25-30/bottle; however from the description of them all showing signs of seepage, this is not good for the likely quality or price; you might perhaps get £10-15/bottle - and at that level packing/delivery starts to be an issue, so you might not get any interest depending where you are located.
It would therefore seem better to me to drink them locally (and/or give some to friends?), and either save one or two to take with you - or alternatively, perhaps drink them and then "replace" them with something similar (another main shipper from 1985) once back in Oz?