4 Bottles to sell!

[TerryB]

I have had to downsize and am now trying to clear space. Unfortunately I do not drink and, as I am in my 70s, I do not think that it is worth my while keeping some bottles of Port/Dessert Wine that have been given in the past. These bottles are currently stored in my 'drinks' cabinet in a room that is not heated. I have the following to sell:

Taylors 1996 Vintage Port (still in its plastic display 'box')
Malaga Special Reserve Dessert Wine
Sandeman Founders Reserve
Warre's Warrior Special Reserve Port - 1/2 bottle (Still in its wooden display 'box')

Unfortunately only the first bottle lists a year but I know that these have probably all been in my possession for over 12 years as that is when my husband left and he was the one who obtained these items. I am located in Abingdon, Oxfordshire and - ideally - would like one person to purchase all 4 bottles

[jdaw1]

Thank you for coming here with your bottles. I can comment on the Port, and none of them are worth much. The Taylor’s 1996 LBV (which isn’t the same as ‘Vintage’) might be ≈£20 to somebody. Warre's Warrior and Sandeman Founders Reserve are their basic Red Ports: basic decent drinking, but of no collectability. Maybe a tenner each. If well kept then they should definitely be better than cooking Port; but if not, they might improve a stew. (And the Sandeman was imported into the USA: it has travelled.)

Please allow me to suggest a plan that is much simpler: if you have a friend who would drink these, give them away.

Sorry to be the bearer of unwelcome tidings.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Terry, I think Julian has given some sound advice.

The bottles you have are pleasant enough, but are not really worth anything. If you have friends or relations who enjoy wine, they would probably enjoy these.

If not, ask a local auction house if they’d sell them as a single lot for you. You might be able to get £10-20 after the auctioneer’s commission.

[Glenn E.]

The first Warrior is a 375 ml bottle so not even worth a tenner.

[Andy Velebil]

Hi Terry,

I agree with the other three posters. Unfortunately, your bottles are not collectable and not worth much money. As mentioned, if you know of someone to give them to would be my recommendation.

[jdaw1]

The first Warrior is a 375 ml bottle so not even worth a tenner.

I missed its size, and agree with Glenn.

[TerryB]

Hi everyone, I would love to give them to someone that would appreciate them but - unfortunately - I don't know anyone. As I said at the start of my post, I am just clearing space and so anxious to get rid of them. I was not expecting to get a lot of money for these bottles, but anything that might augment my pension would be gratefully received! If someone here would like and appreciate them, then please come back to me.

[TerryB]

If no one is interested, how do I remove this post from your site?

[Alex Bridgeman]

Terry,

You can just delete your post, but if you are happy to it would be nice to leave it there. Being able to read the discussion might help someone else in a position similar to you in the future.

Thanks

Alex

[mosesbotbol]

Can always cook with them.

[TerryB]

Can't cook with them as I don't drink - i said that at the start!!!!!

As for deleting, according to the FAQs, I can't delete my message once I have had a reply!

So it seems that I am stumped! I am unlikely to return to this forum ,if an administrator happens to catch these comments, I hereby give my permission for this thread to be deleted.

[MigSU]

Can't cook with them as I don't drink - i said that at the start!!!!!

As for deleting, according to the FAQs, I can't delete my message once I have had a reply!

So it seems that I am stumped! I am unlikely to return to this forum ,if an administrator happens to catch these comments, I hereby give my permission for this thread to be deleted.

You're unlikely to read this, but here goes: when you cook with any alcoholic drink, the alcohol itself very quickly evaporates, and none of it is left on the final dish.

[rich_n]

Can't cook with them as I don't drink - i said that at the start!!!!!

As for deleting, according to the FAQs, I can't delete my message once I have had a reply!

So it seems that I am stumped! I am unlikely to return to this forum ,if an administrator happens to catch these comments, I hereby give my permission for this thread to be deleted.

You're unlikely to read this, but here goes: when you cook with any alcoholic drink, the alcohol itself very quickly evaporates, and none of it is left on the final dish.

This is a commonly believed myth - it actually takes much longer than people think:

https://www.isu.edu/news/2019-fall/no-w ... eally.html

[MigSU]

Can't cook with them as I don't drink - i said that at the start!!!!!

As for deleting, according to the FAQs, I can't delete my message once I have had a reply!

So it seems that I am stumped! I am unlikely to return to this forum ,if an administrator happens to catch these comments, I hereby give my permission for this thread to be deleted.

You're unlikely to read this, but here goes: when you cook with any alcoholic drink, the alcohol itself very quickly evaporates, and none of it is left on the final dish.

This is a commonly believed myth - it actually takes much longer than people think:

https://www.isu.edu/news/2019-fall/no-w ... eally.html

Well, I have one for you that is NOT from a country and state that have a problematic history when it comes to alcohol prohibitions and puritanical fear mongering:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 0X16300427

You pays your money and you takes your choice.
I do take the point that it might not be 100% gone.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Can't cook with them as I don't drink - i said that at the start!!!!!

As for deleting, according to the FAQs, I can't delete my message once I have had a reply!

So it seems that I am stumped! I am unlikely to return to this forum ,if an administrator happens to catch these comments, I hereby give my permission for this thread to be deleted.

You're unlikely to read this, but here goes: when you cook with any alcoholic drink, the alcohol itself very quickly evaporates, and none of it is left on the final dish.

This is a commonly believed myth - it actually takes much longer than people think:

https://www.isu.edu/news/2019-fall/no-w ... eally.html

Miguel’s a chemist at heart (and so am I). When I was doing my A Level Chemistry, one of the studies we had to graph was the reduction in alcohol content of a water-alcohol mix when it was simmered. Granted Port, with all its additional complex compounds will not behave in exactly the same way as a simple water-alcohol mix, but 90% of the alcohol vanishes from the mix in the first five (or less) minutes of simmering.

I wish I had the records of the data, but I don’t.

[mcoulson]

Very interesting reading .... Never too old to learn stuff

[Glenn E.]

I was originally a chemist, though that did not make it through college (where I switched from Chemistry and German to Math and Computer Science, a completely logical change).

My now fully-mature-and-ready-for-drinking-and-probably-on-the-decline knowledge of chemistry agrees with Miguel and Alex. Alcohol boils at a lower temperature than water, so if you are simmering a liquid that contains alcohol and water the alcohol will boil off first. This is true pretty much regardless of the temperature of the simmer because at any temperature the alcohol is in a higher state of excitement than the water.

Whether or not 5 minutes is the correct time frame has precipitated out of my knowledge base, leaving only secondary and tertiary memories. But it sounds close enough to me.

Note: if your simmer is low enough, you can actually see the change from "primarily alcohol" to "primarily water" in the boil. Gently boiling alcohol has smaller bubbles that tend to pop and spit due to also having lower surface tension. Once the alcohol is mostly gone, the simmer will visually change to what you're used to seeing when cooking.

[rich_n]

Can't cook with them as I don't drink - i said that at the start!!!!!

As for deleting, according to the FAQs, I can't delete my message once I have had a reply!

So it seems that I am stumped! I am unlikely to return to this forum ,if an administrator happens to catch these comments, I hereby give my permission for this thread to be deleted.

You're unlikely to read this, but here goes: when you cook with any alcoholic drink, the alcohol itself very quickly evaporates, and none of it is left on the final dish.

This is a commonly believed myth - it actually takes much longer than people think:

https://www.isu.edu/news/2019-fall/no-w ... eally.html

Well, I have one for you that is NOT from a country and state that have a problematic history when it comes to alcohol prohibitions and puritanical fear mongering:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 0X16300427

You pays your money and you takes your choice.
I do take the point that it might not be 100% gone.

There are plenty of non-US sources that say similar things - I absolutely am happy to bow to superior knowledge, but it appears not all chemists agree with each other on this one... (And also there's an element of the alcohol being absorbed into other ingredients that will slow its evaporation etc).

My point being that depending on the cooking being done and the temperatures involved it's not the "basically immediate" evaporation that I had been led to believe it was when I was first learning to cook.

[rich_n]

Also I'm now wondering how easy it would be to measure the remaining alcohol content in the various things I enjoy cooking (there's about to be some tawny port added to my risotto because I don't have any sherry in the house) without investing in a home chemistry lab and hours of my time to learn how to use it...

[MigSU]

Also I'm now wondering how easy it would be to measure the remaining alcohol content in the various things I enjoy cooking (there's about to be some tawny port added to my risotto because I don't have any sherry in the house) without investing in a home chemistry lab and hours of my time to learn how to use it...

Hmm...not very easy, I don't think. It's a bit of a pain to do it the 'old fashioned way' with wine, and food is way more cumbersome and heterogeneous. Probably not a great use of your time

[rich_n]

Also I'm now wondering how easy it would be to measure the remaining alcohol content in the various things I enjoy cooking (there's about to be some tawny port added to my risotto because I don't have any sherry in the house) without investing in a home chemistry lab and hours of my time to learn how to use it...

Hmm...not very easy, I don't think. It's a bit of a pain to do it the 'old fashioned way' with wine, and food is way more cumbersome and heterogeneous. Probably not a great use of your time

Almost certainly not, but I'm still curious. There have been studies done so I guess it depends on how much you trust those institutions.

[Glenn E.]

My point being that depending on the cooking being done and the temperatures involved it's not the "basically immediate" evaporation that I had been led to believe it was when I was first learning to cook.

Oh, no of course not. For that you need to light it on fire.

Which is much more fun when it happens accidentally without warning others who might also be in the kitchen at the time.