Latest buy

[Alex Bridgeman]

I think it was bottled in 1976...

[MigSU]

I think it was bottled in 1976...

Correct!

[nac]

I think it was bottled in 1976...

Correct!

Ahh, yes. Hadn’t read it properly.

[Christopher]

That is a great purchase! I really like the 52.

[Big Love]

One each of the following for a casual tawny tasting in April

Borges 20
Messias 20
Barao de Vilar 20
Quinta dos Murcas 10 (Mike's W recommends!)

[Justin K]

Another Graham’s 1945 at auction for €88.08 all in!
Collected today, slight seepage but as you can see level is good. Executive decision made as this is too good a bottle to mess around: new cork and wax applied immediately.
2/3’rds of cork came out revealing ‘sham’ 194’ so I think it is safe to assume it’s genuine
Did I do the right thing?
Btw I poured a tiny amount (see before and after pictures below), colour was so dark and I’m still sniffing the empty glass!

[MigSU]

Did it really say "sham" on the cork?

What a ridiculous price, btw. Amazing.

[Justin K]

Did it really say "sham" on the cork?

What a ridiculous price, btw. Amazing.

Autocorrect gone mad, should read ‘aham’!

[MigSU]

Did it really say "sham" on the cork?

What a ridiculous price, btw. Amazing.

Autocorrect gone mad, should read ‘aham’!

Yeah, I figured

Congratulations on the price, what a steal.

[Christopher]

A great find
I generally wax all my old bottles. Personally if it had some seepage as you have lost 3/4 of the cork I would find an excuse to drink it soon

[PhilW]

A great find
I generally wax all my old bottles. Personally if it had some seepage as you have lost 3/4 of the cork I would find an excuse to drink it soon

Agree with Christopher, and even more so not just because of the seepage, but since you sampled some as well - so rather than a recorked vts-level with potential to decline from recent additional air, I'd drink it in very near time while still as good as it can be, and save the other bottle rewaxed but not recorked. Fabulous bargain.

[mosesbotbol]

Another Graham’s 1945 at auction for €88.08 all in!
Collected today, slight seepage but as you can see level is good. Executive decision made as this is too good a bottle to mess around: new cork and wax applied immediately.
2/3’rds of cork came out revealing ‘sham’ 194’ so I think it is safe to assume it’s genuine
Did I do the right thing?

Did you top off one bottle before re-corking and drink the other?

[Justin K]

Another Graham’s 1945 at auction for €88.08 all in!
Collected today, slight seepage but as you can see level is good. Executive decision made as this is too good a bottle to mess around: new cork and wax applied immediately.
2/3’rds of cork came out revealing ‘sham’ 194’ so I think it is safe to assume it’s genuine
Did I do the right thing?

Did you top off one bottle before re-corking and drink the other?

No the bottle on the left I bought last year (oroginal cork and wax), I just put it up for comparison. Another idintical bottle sold last summer (€260) and I was the underbidder. I am tring to establish if there are more.

Thanks for the advice folks which I am going to ignore! The reason is that at €88.08 it is worth the risk of a few minutes (2 to 3) of exposure, the small amount I tasted, as it still leaves the bottle at vts istead of in. I wouldn't hesitate to buy an even lower ullage on such Ports. So what I am going to do is bring this to a tasting at the B&F whenever people think it would fit in. Phil can be the first to slap me over the head if it turns out to be ruined

[jdaw1]

The reason is that at €88.08 it is worth the risk

Behold: sunk-cost fallacy at large.

[Justin K]

The reason is that at €88.08 it is worth the risk

Behold: sunk-cost fallacy at large.

Maith an fear!

[Mike J. W.]

4 x 1985 Taylor VP with 2 of them going to BigLove (John M.).

[Justin K]

4 x 1985 Taylor VP with 2 of them going to BigLove (John M.).

I love the Taylor’s 1985 (and indeed a lot of other Taylor vintages!) but it’s not turning up much hereabouts

[Christopher]

T 55 - a cracking vintage that has not gone mad yet

[Christopher]

An interesting Magnum purchase, lost colour but I thought a nice left field bottle for a 63 horizontal!

[Alex Bridgeman]

That is a really interesting bottle. I wonder why they decided to bottle such a varied mix of shippers?

[jdaw1]

Most mixed I’ve seen? Factory House; Confraria; Unidido. Then this.

[Mike J. W.]

And yet no Cockburn as part of the blend...even stranger still.

[Andy Velebil]

The weird one out of that blend is Boa Vista.

[idj123]

Sounds like the bottler had a little left of each and just decided to dump them all into a magnum!

[PhilW]

I love the idea of this; maybe it was a blend of their favourite shippers, or just what they had left from each cask after the main bottling, and who knows what the proportions might be. Would love the know the story behind it (did they know the Avery family perhaps?).

[winesecretary]

I strongly suspect it was a combination of samples left over from a tasting, taken home by one of the staff for later consumption.

[Christopher]

It’s quite efficient for a horizontal tasting, you only need one glass
Don’t hold out much hope given the colour.

[jdaw1]

It’s quite efficient for a horizontal tasting, you only need one glass

Christopher’s “efficient” tasting:

[Christopher]

Thanks Julian
A splendid idea! It should be done!
We may need some back up bottles!

[Christopher]

Thanks Julian
A splendid idea! It should be done!
We may need some back up bottles!

A 63 horizontal in one glass tasting!