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Hello fellow Port-lovers,

I have a 1966 Vieira de Souza Port to sell.

I'm not certain how well my father has stored it since there's a bit of staining on the label. Is that usual?.

We also have a 1947 Madeira from Barbeito.

Any ideas most gratefully received.

(Pictures attached.)

Many thanks in advance.
VMDG

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7wdbj0l04ejwl ... 185850.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hb15t6ghynven ... 185858.jpg
https://www.dropbox.com/s/p7ii536tk1whe ... 185918.jpg

Welcome to the board VMDG. You are not the first to ask such a question...if you take a look at this post, you will find some guidance on selling bottles.

Having read that, you may feel a little deflated. Given you have two single bottles, which I would guess have not necessarily been stored ideally, the best option is probably to find some friends and drink them.

If you are really not that fussed about sampling these, there is one other option. A few of us here are planning to drink some 1966 ports next month, so for something like say £20 we could purchase the 66 Souza and add it to the 66 collection for some novelty. That only makes sense of course assuming you are located somewhere on the planet that makes this feasible.

Madeira is not really my thing, so someone else might be able to offer some comment on that.

Good luck!

Welcome to

flash_uk wrote:A few of us here are planning to drink some 1966 ports next month

If you live in or near London you are very welcome to join us. The 1966 is your ticket. We will be eating so you should budget around £40 to cover food, corkage, tip etc.

Where are you? Or, more precisely, where is the bottle?

Hi folks,

Many thanks for that.

Will ponder further...

I'm in Herefordshire.
The bottles have been stored in a little-used bedroom, the coolest room in our house.

Q1. Any thoughts re the staining on the label by the cork please?

Q2. Any interest in the 1947 Madeira folks?

Regards,
VMDG

Your Souza 1966 is not Vintage Port. It says 'Matured in Wood' on the bottle and it clearly has a stopper cork, rather than a driven cork, under the capsule (from the ridges that are visible); so it is a 'Colheita', a tawny port from a single year that is bottled after several years in small casks.

The staining on the seal near the capsule is from leakage. The level is not very low however and this is already an oxidative style of port (that is, it has already been oxidised by its years of storage in wood) so it may be that this has done little harm.

You should drink it.

In fact the back label on the Souza, in the first picture, shows a bottling date in the top right, which I can't read - what is that date..?

Your 1947 Verdelho might be worth auctioning. Perhaps it's an idea to look around online at recent auction prices for a wine like this, taking into account the seller's commission wherever you might be listing it.

djewesbury wrote:In fact the back label on the Souza, in the first picture, shows a bottling date in the top right, which I can't read - what is that date..?

I think that its first digit is a “2”. Bottled this century.

jdaw1 wrote:

djewesbury wrote:In fact the back label on the Souza, in the first picture, shows a bottling date in the top right, which I can't read - what is that date..?

I think that its first digit is a “2”. Bottled this century.

I also thought so. But the selo looks like an older (IVP rather than IVDP) design. It's hard to make out however.

jdaw1 wrote:

djewesbury wrote:In fact the back label on the Souza, in the first picture, shows a bottling date in the top right, which I can't read - what is that date..?

I think that its first digit is a “2”. Bottled this century.

Hi folks,
Well this is quite educational for me
Thanks.

The Port was bottled (per the label) in 1987.
That all stacks up as I bought it for my father's 65th birthday & retirement in the late 80s.
He's a vintage 91 next month!

djewesbury wrote:Your Souza 1966 is not Vintage Port. It says 'Matured in Wood' on the bottle and it clearly has a stopper cork, rather than a driven cork, under the capsule (from the ridges that are visible); so it is a 'Colheita', a tawny port from a single year that is bottled after several years in small casks.

The staining on the seal near the capsule is from leakage. The level is not very low however and this is already an oxidative style of port (that is, it has already been oxidised by its years of storage in wood) so it may be that this has done little harm.

You should drink it.

That's educational too.
I naively thought that as it was a single year (vs. a blend of years) that this alone made it "vintage Port".
Time for more in-depth learning on my part methinks

Ok, that's very useful information. I don't think this is a high-value bottle if you were to try and sell it yourself. Perhaps bundled as one lot with the Madeira in a local wine auction you could get the best price, but I don't know enough about current prices and commissions to say how much. Worth asking for a valuation but still, for me, the prime option would be drink it!

VMDG wrote:

jdaw1 wrote:

djewesbury wrote:In fact the back label on the Souza, in the first picture, shows a bottling date in the top right, which I can't read - what is that date..?

I think that its first digit is a “2”. Bottled this century.

He's a vintage 91 next month!

And I think you have a suitable drinking occasion approaching!
Daniel.

djewesbury wrote:Your 1947 Verdelho might be worth auctioning. Perhaps it's an idea to look around online at recent auction prices for a wine like this, taking into account the seller's commission wherever you might be listing it.

Many thanks for that.
Are you able to suggest any websites where I can check auction prices please?
Many thanks.

VMDG wrote:
Hi folks,
Well this is quite educational for me
Thanks.

The Port was bottled (per the label) in 1987.
That all stacks up as I bought it for my father's 65th birthday & retirement in the late 80s.
He's a vintage 91 next month!

The others are correct. This is a Colheita (single vintage tawny port) and not a Vintage Port. The company doesn't have a great record for outstanding Ports or commanding high prices. It has leaked which is worrisome even for a tawny and can cause it to not show it's best anymore.

In the UK you probably won't get much money for this so it's probably not worth the trouble of trying to sell. I would recommend opening it with friends to hopefully enjoy.

In the USA the Madeira would be worth around $200-250. But I have no idea what Madeira prices are in your area.

VMDG wrote:

djewesbury wrote:Your 1947 Verdelho might be worth auctioning. Perhaps it's an idea to look around online at recent auction prices for a wine like this, taking into account the seller's commission wherever you might be listing it.

Many thanks for that.
Are you able to suggest any websites where I can check auction prices please?
Many thanks.

Have a look on wine-searcher.com where you can look at the price history for this, though that will probably be very incomplete information if it's listed at all, as this only gathers information from the major auction houses. Other than that it's a question of browsing through the sale catalogues of past auctions to find prices realised. It might be worth going to the auction houses near you and asking to speak to a specialist who can advise.

Are you anywhere near Straker Chadwick? They're reputable and have regular wine auctions.

This post is quite interesting as I bought a Souza 66 'Vintage Port' at auction the other day only of course to find out after I received it that it was indeed a colheita (bottled in 92). I have subsequently pointed out the auction house's misdirection to them (not heard back) but that's the rub when you don't undertake proper investigation, 'caveat emptor' and all that! Still, it has a good fill level and I'm quite partial to a colheita.

idj123 wrote:This post is quite interesting as I bought a Souza 66 'Vintage Port' at auction the other day only of course to find out after I received it that it was indeed a colheita (bottled in 92). I have subsequently pointed out the auction house's misdirection to them (not heard back) but that's the rub when you don't undertake proper investigation, 'caveat emptor' and all that! Still, it has a good fill level and I'm quite partial to a colheita.

Phew-glad it's not just me who has found this confusing & educational!

djewesbury wrote:Are you anywhere near Straker Chadwick? They're reputable and have regular wine auctions.

It's a 2-hour round-trip, so not out of bounds...
Many thanks for that.

VMDG wrote: Many thanks

Our pleasure - this is what geeks are for!

djewesbury wrote:

VMDG wrote: Many thanks

Our pleasure - this is what geeks are for!

Looking forward to becoming more geeky

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