Out of Curiosity

[Alex Bridgeman]

I was talking to Derek the other day and we were talking about the number of bottles we open from our cellars for either personal consumption or for sharing with other people at offlines or just with visitors to the home. It might be quite interesting for the producers who read this forum to know how many we drink as well as how many we buy.

I reckon that on average I open 2 bottles per week when I am at home - say a total of 100 to keep the numbers round - probably 1-2 a month for informal or smaller offlines, and a further dozen or so a year for the larger offlines. Call it a total of about 130 bottles per year.

How does this compare with other people?

[DRT]

I would reckon my number would be much the same as AHB's, so between two of us we have already accounted for around 22 cases being consumed.

It is probably also worth noting that my cellar has increased in size by around 100 bottles per annum in each of the past 3 years. Taking consumption into account that puts my buying at a rather worrying 20 cases per annum

[uncle tom]

Since returning from my winter sabbatical in March, I have opened 23 bottles of port for my own consumption at home, plus a further 16 bottles at various events away from home.

Of the bottles drunk at home, 19 were vintage, while 15 bottles of vintage were drunk at away events.

The average age of the vintage port drunk so far this year is 39 years and 11 days, the oldest bottle being from 1927 and the youngest 1991

Tom

[SushiNorth]

I average about 3 bottles per month (or 3 cases per year), and have acquired some 20 cases in the 18 months since joining TPF.

[Axel P]

Since I do a non-drinking month every year my consumption consist of only 11 months straight. I recon as well that I drink two bottles a week and the additional bottles for tastings, summing up to 130 bottles a year, though not all being Vintage Ports as I do very much like old Colheitas and aged Tawnies, too.

Axel

[g-man]

I drink about 3 cases per year not including offlines.

and I've bought about 11 cases of port since joining TPF

[JacobH]

The last time I counted, including offlines, I averaged a mere bottle a week over the year!

[Glenn E.]

I probably only drink 1 bottle per month out of my cellar, but that is a bit deceptive.

First, I'm still in aquisition mode. I've filled two wine refrigerators and am in the process of purchasing a third which will likely also fill up quickly. I assume (hope?) that some day either my consumption will increase or my purchasing will slow down, but I have seen no evidence of that just yet.

Second, I drink more like 4-5 bottles of Port per month, but most of the bottles I drink are still 20- and 40-yr old tawnies. I don't bother to cellar those because they're not going to be around long enough for it to matter.

Still... small potatoes compared to the rest of you guys.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Second, I drink more like 4-5 bottles of Port per month, but most of the bottles I drink are still 20- and 40-yr old tawnies. I don't bother to cellar those because they're not going to be around long enough for it to matter.

Still... small potatoes compared to the rest of you guys.

Hmm, 4-5 bottles per month equates to about 52 per year. Add in bottles of 2007 and offline bottles and you probably consume more than you realise. Given that you are still in acquisitive mode, that would make sense.

[g-man]

if you add dry reds .... you can double my # over my port consumption

[uncle tom]

if you add dry reds .... you can double my # over my port consumption

If I add the old claret I quaff it comes to an awful lot..

Tom

[Portman]

I am truly the lightweight here. I average around one bottle of port a month, and maybe twice that in the winter. This time of year in the southeastern US it is hot enough that beer is my beverage of choice, or a chilled white wine. I find vintage port and most reds are just too heavy in the heat.

I did have a nice 1995 Smith Woodhouse over the US 4th of July holiday, however. But we were in chilly Vermont which made it far more enjoyable.

[gerwin.degraaf]

I'm one of the lightweights too in this matter.

I am probably good for about 10-12 bottles of port a year, so far. On one hand, because I have just started buying/collecting Vintage ports (with 2005 as the first vintage of which I bought quite a lot of), and these bottles need some more time to mature before they can be opened and enjoyed.
Most of what I drink usually is wine. If I add up the bottles of wine which are opened a year, I'm closer to getting to 200-250 a year I'm afraid (it really seems like a whole lot of wine, just looking at this number ! ).

[g-man]

if you add dry reds .... you can double my # over my port consumption

If I add the old claret I quaff it comes to an awful lot..

Tom

!!! you drink more then 100 bottles a year not including offlines???

[uncle tom]

you drink more then 100 bottles a year not including offlines

Very roughly, my current annual intake of alcohol is as follows:

Port (all types) c. 72 btls
Other fortified wine c. 3 btls
White wine c. 36 btls
Red wine c. 144 btls
Spirits c. 2 btls
Licquers, vermouths etc. c 1 btl
Beer c. 800 pints

My tankard, which resides in my local pub, and has been there since I was 18, has held around 30,000 pints (I used to drink more beer and less wine than I do today)

The last time the doctor gave me an MOT, I had no alcohol related health issues (in fact, no issues at all)

Tom

[Glenn E.]

Second, I drink more like 4-5 bottles of Port per month, but most of the bottles I drink are still 20- and 40-yr old tawnies. I don't bother to cellar those because they're not going to be around long enough for it to matter.

Still... small potatoes compared to the rest of you guys.

Hmm, 4-5 bottles per month equates to about 52 per year. Add in bottles of 2007 and offline bottles and you probably consume more than you realise. Given that you are still in acquisitive mode, that would make sense.

Well... 4-5 bottles per month was meant to include offlines in the average. I do probably average one bottle a week over the year, but that's only because of events like the 2009 Port Gala, the Old & Odd that I attended in NYC, and my current flights of 2007 cask samples with Roy. After all, at an offline I might get to taste 10 bottles, but my personal consumption is (hopefully!) only 1 bottle. I leave multiple-bottles-in-one-night consumption to the experts.

Excluding offlines and events, I probably average 2 bottles per month over a full year. It would probably be something like 3/month during the winter, 2/month in the spring and fall, and 1/month in the summer.

[marc j.]

In round numbers I probably open 2 bottles of Port per week, although a good portion of that is shared with others. I also participate in 2-3 tasting events per month, so that adds an additional 30 bottles or so to the total. With all of that said, my purchasing far exceeds the amount of port that I consume in a typical year - its not even close. Looks as though I need to start drinking a little faster.....


Marc

[SushiNorth]

In round numbers I probably open 2 bottles of Port per week, although a good portion of that is shared with others. I also participate in 2-3 tasting events per month, so that adds an additional 30 bottles or so to the total.

Didn't see a post on Introductions, so welcome! (you should go post over there so everyone can properly say the same). I was just chatting with g-man last night about the undiscovered Port-lovers of NY -- where are they and why haven't they found us yet -- and it seems the answer is that they're in California. Perhaps this is the beginning of TPF tastings being organized over there...

[Andy Velebil]

Marc is a good guy and he and I drink together from time to time. Now if he would just make the long drive over to my house again some time an offline will be born Heck I'll even make the drive out there.

Oh yeah, for those that don't know Los Angeles is a BIG place, add in traffic and that 30 mile drive can take 3 hours

[marc j.]

Offline??? Sure! I'm more than ready for an offline in the upcoming weeks. Let's arrange something....

Marc

[oscar quevedo]

This is very precious information for the Port trade: the consumption habits of Port lovers! Thank you for sharing this!!

[SushiNorth]

This is very precious information for the Port trade: the consumption habits of Port lovers! Thank you for sharing this!!

Oscar, bear in mind that most of us tripled our purchase rate after joining this forum; so it's also valuable info for the port industry that pushing enthusiasts to connect and hold tastings increases sales. If they aren't pointing customers our way, they're leaving 2/3rds of the money on the table.

[uncle tom]

Oscar, bear in mind that most of us tripled our purchase rate after joining this forum; so it's also valuable info for the port industry that pushing enthusiasts to connect and hold tastings increases sales. If they aren't pointing customers our way, they're leaving 2/3rds of the money on the table.

That is very true. The ability to chat, meet and compare notes with fellow enthusiasts, both increases the cellars of those participating, and their consumption.

I also suspect that several people who used to major on Reserves and LBV, now drink VP to a much greater extent than before.

This of course, is very good news for the trade.

However, there is a downside from the producers point of view, in that we are also getting very much better informed, and much less tolerant of the margins demanded by the distributors and merchants.

Sooner or later, the producers will begin to recognise that there is a new facet to the market; one that can be profitably engaged, if a little lateral thought is deployed.

Tom

[Alex Bridgeman]

As I said in the title, it was curiosity that made me ask the question; curiosity borne from an estimate made at an offline one day that the people sitting round the table accounted for purchases of around 100 cases of port per year.

I've done a quick tally of the replies that we have had above. 11 people have shared their opening and buying habits. Between us, we consume around 70 cases of port and buy around 135. That is quite a lot of port, equivalent to half the annual vintage port production of one or two of the producers that I visited recently!

I think Tom makes an interesting point. The internet and Forums like this one and seem to have opened up a latent market. I know that despite having been a great lover of vintage port before I discovered the port forums, I buy and consume a lot more port now than I used to. Perhaps these forums are the modern equivalent of London and New York's great port consuming clubs? Their influence on us and their ability to allow us to organise offlines and run themed tastings is quite astonishing.

I also love the way in which they allow us to interact directly with producers. Without the forums and the internet, I would not (yet?) have heard of Quevedo's ports. With the influence of the internet, I can read Oscar's blog and grow my interest in the vineyard and the wines and will actively look out for them when I go browsing in the wine shops.

But I am still surprised at how few producers in Portugal are geared up and able to sell port to consumers in the EU via the internet. I can buy from retailers almost anywhere in Europe and pay the retailer to DHL (I work for them) anything from a single bottle to a full case to my address in the UK. But as far as I can see, I can't do anything similar direct from the cellar door. Perhaps this will be the next internet development for the producers who have only a limited network of distributors? Offer direct sales to consumers in countries where there is no agency or importer? It would be an interesting development to watch.

[jdaw1]

But I am still surprised at how few producers in Portugal are geared up and able to sell port to consumers in the EU via the internet. I can buy from retailers almost anywhere in Europe and pay the retailer to DHL (I work for them) anything from a single bottle to a full case to my address in the UK. But as far as I can see, I can't do anything similar direct from the cellar door. Perhaps this will be the next internet development for the producers who have only a limited network of distributors? Offer direct sales to consumers in countries where there is no agency or importer? It would be an interesting development to watch.

Perhaps DHL should write a proposal and send it to all the producers (via the IVDP, perhaps).