Hello...

[Green]

Hello everyone,

I am an enthusiastic but novice port drinker and have really joined the forum in order to pick your very knowledgeable port brains.

I have been recently asked to be godfather to a friend's son born in late 2009 and would like to give him a case of port. This was prompted by recently sharing a bottle with four friends from university from a case given to one of us by his godfather. It led to some amusing conversations and what can only be described as a very convivial evening and struck me as a much appreciated christening present. I particularly liked the fact that it can be shared with others. Since then, I have been occasionally researching the world of buying port but the more I discover, the more confused I seem to become and I thought that maybe one of you more enlightened souls might be able to help me.

My ideal would be to buy a six bottle case of 2009 harvested port that would last for around 20 years. My further limiting factor is money, i.e. I don't have too much spare having just ended 6 years of higher education. I understand that the declaration as to whether 2009 is a vintage year will not occur until early 2011. I have also read about the single Quinta vintages which sound very interesting and have the following questions:

Is it likely or are there are any indications that it will be a vintage year, or if not, that any individual Quintas will declare?

Would individual Quinta vintages be likely to have peaked before 20-25 years?

Do any Quintas sell direct or are there any good merchants to have a look at (have earmarked Lay and Wheeler and Adnams)?

When's the best time to buy and is en primeur possible/worth it?

I understand that a lot of these questions bypass the most important variables of the harvest etc but thoughts on how feasible this is and pointers as to how, where and when to start looking etc would be really appreciated. Please excuse and correct the errors - see this as an opportunity to put two people (me and my godson) on the road to becoming true port appreciators.

Many thanks,

Sam (Green)

[jdaw1]

2008s are just being declared. You may be very sure that when 2009 cask samples become available, reports thereof will be here.

Port can take longer than 20 years to reach maturity. Have you considered buying port a few years older than the recipient?

[Alex Bridgeman]

Sam

Welcome to the Port Forum and you've joined for the best if reasons. I was hooked on port in pretty much the same way as you - I was given a case of port for my 21st birthday by my grandparents and still have a couple of bottles left 20 years later. Actually, I was given 13 bottles and the extra bottle was opened by the family on my 21st birthday and shared between us at dinner that night. That's when I first learned what mature port could offer compared to other drinks.

The good news is that the quality of the 2009 vintage looks to be excellent. There will almost certainly be some producers who have the quality and the volume to make a declaration and those who don't will bottle single quinta wines. You will have lots of choice and everything will be available in 6 bottle cases. As to the question of what to buy - perhaps I can wait until we know who offers which wines and what the styles of those wines will be. The vast majority of what is offered will be capable of lasting 25-30 years or more whether it is single quinta wine or full blended wine.

There are a small number of quintas who sell direct (Oscar Quevedo, for example) or you can buy through an established wine merchant. The advantage of a wine merchant is that most will then store your wine for you until you need it at a cost of about £5-10 per year. In that way, you don't have to worry about the storage conditions in your home and whether your cellar / under stairs cupboard / kitchen cabinet is too warm for long term maturation of a case of port.

Buying en-primeur guarantees the provenance of the wine. You know that it was bought and has been stored in perfect conditions. En primeur offers for the 2009 ports will be seen about this time next year. However, port auction prices currently seem to dip below en primeur prices about 5-10 years after their initial offer. This may not continue, but you might like to consider hedging your bets by buying 6 bottles en primeur and looking for opportunistic chances to buy another 6 (or 7) 5-10 years later. This is generally the approach that I take - buy some bottles now and more bottles later.

But most of all, if you are close to London then please consider inviting yourself along to one of our offlines in Covent Garden. When we post details in the "Organising Tastings and Get-Togethers" section, these are open invitations to anyone who wants to join us. As a guide, you would be expected to pay about £35-40 for your meal (or turn up after the meal and then just pay about a £10 share of the corkage fee) and bring a bottle of port with you. If you don't have a bottle of port that fits the theme, just let us know and someone will help out. You really would be very welcome and would have an opportunity to try a range of different ports of different ages. And bring along your friends as well!

Alex

[Green]

Jdaw and Alex, thanks for your replies.

I have thought about buying older vintages but ideally would like to buy some harvested in his birth year if possible. I'll have a look at the 2008s coming through to try and get a better idea of the market.

The idea of buying en primeur without having to worry about attendant storage logistics and the possibility of buying more later at auction (when I might have a bit more spare cash) is very appealing. I am not too fussed about whether there is a later drop in price provided it is a fair price to begin with. I'm very glad to hear that 2009 looks set to be a good year. I'll try and extend my knowledge before following up in earnest next summer.

Thanks again, and I'll look out for the London offlines.

Sam