Dow's 1945 Vintage port for sale.

[Diogen]

I have a bottle of Dow's 1945 Vintage port for sale.
Looking for offer or at least advice how and where to sell it.
Thanks for any help

[djewesbury]

That's an interesting one. What can you tell us about where it's been stored, levels, any signs of seepage? Please post further info (read our Standard Advice, in this forum, to get an idea of what) as someone here (very possibly me) may be interested. Whereabouts are you?

[Diogen]

First i'm (and the bottle too) in Brussels Belgium.
I don't speak so well english, and nore i'm specialist in wine terms.
I find the bottle in the cellar (together with other very old wines) of a old men which is dead.
I was there to empty the house.
I can't say since when it was laying there.
I can see a dark deposit on one side of the neck of the bottle so it seems it stay long time on the side.
It seems that it didn't lost liquid.
See the photo of the wax sealed cork (slightly damaged)
Have you remark that the label is white and different then the photo i found on internet. (Always black label) ?
Do you know something about that ?
It has the same label as the 1896 vintage i found (see image joined). With the inscription "to the late King George V"

[Diogen]

Here is the sealed tap

[djewesbury]

Our advice is that private sales can usually only expect to make about half the usual retail price. This is down to the mark-up that retailers add to bottles, but also because buyers have some recourse if the bottle turns out to be defective somehow, which they do not have when they purchase privately.

You might consider putting this into an auction in the UK, but this would probably involve you travelling here with the bottle. It's not an ideal location for most people here, though some forum members may have friends or family in Belgium. I'm in Ireland so it's not really practical for me.

If the bottle is sound, it could fetch a good price.

Anyone else here interested?

[Diogen]

How can i know if the bottle is sound ?
I've some friend who go sometimes to Dublin ?
How much is "half price" ?

[DRT]

How can i know if the bottle is sound ?
I've some friend who go sometimes to Dublin ?
How much is "half price" ?

Hi Diogen,

The only sure way to know if the bottle is sound is to open and drink it, so that isn't really useful to you if you want to sell it.

This bottle would sell for around £450 from a good wine merchant. I think at most you would get £200-£250 in a private sale, but probably less.

[jdaw1]

Please sir, what happened to the 1896?

[Diogen]

Sorry for the confusion. The foto of the 1896 was there to ilustrate the fact that my bottle has a comparable label (white). Because all the 1945 fotos i found on the net has a black label .

[RAYC]

Veilingsylie's in Antwerp is a very well established auction house for wine that may be a good option for selling or even just getting an estimate - I bid for port there fairly regularly and find that bottles are not going cheaply!

I don't have a lot of experience with buying 1945s, but that is getting so old that there is not a particularly reliable "market price" - at any one time there will only be a handful of bottles of Dow 1945 for sale worldwide and these could realise vastly different prices depending on a buyer's assessment of a number of different factors including bottle condition, cork/wax condition, fill level, how dark the port looks when held to light, what they can discern of its storage history etc. etc. Even a nice label (which yours has) can add significant value with certain buyers. But for what it's worth, current list prices at merchants range from £600 to £900 per bottle, some of which will be "speculative" pricing that a serious buyer would negotiate down. Other people may have data on prices that have recently realised by sellers at auction (which are likely to be significantly lower than those list prices).

The good news for you is that (a) 1945 is a fantastic vintage in terms of wine quality (b) 1945 is also highly sought after in certain markets because it is the "victory vintage" (c) Dow's is a producer of stellar repute and (d) vintages ending in "5" (35, 45, 55, 65 etc.) are currently in high demand at auction and in private sales from merchants who are stocking up in order to sell to people who want a special bottle for someone turning 40 / 50 / 60 / 70 next year.

Since, as far as it is possible to see from the photos, your bottle looks to be in good condition, you should be able to do well with this.

[Diogen]

Thank you Rob