1984

[AJMM]

Gentlemen,

An extremely good friend of mine is approaching her 30th birthday and I am searching for a birth year port (1984). She is a big fan of sweet ports (really likes 63 Ferreira) Was thinking Grahams Malvedos but am open to ideas. Happy to a swap for the right wine, can anyone give me some assistance?

Andy

[Axel P]

The only 84 I ever had which was something around good to drink was the 84 Fonseca Guimaraens. Unlucky you, 84 is a really weak year.

Axel

[Alex Bridgeman]

You are starting looking at the right time. Ports from 1984 are unusual and difficult to find and the birth year market will start to hoover up at inflated prices any that become available from around the middle of next year.

While it will be tough to find anything (but see below), there are also the occasional Crusted Ports which were (probably) made from blends of 1980-1982 port and then bottled in 1984. I've had one of these and the experience suggests that the 1984 bottled Crusteds should not be ignored as it was rather tasty.

Other than the Crusted, I've only had the Malvedos (mature and enjoyable) and an unfiltered Smith Woodhouse LBV (really surprisingly good) from the 1984 vintage. It's not a vintage with a great reputation, but I enjoyed both of these bottles. Sadly, I don't have any bottles to offer you to help you out, but...

...a quick look at wine-searcher suggests that there are three 1984 ports currently for sale in the UK. These are:
Hooper 1984 (please don't subject your extremely good friend to this!) for £29 + delivery from Victor Collier in Stafford - 0178 524 7251
Bomfim 1984 for £85 from Vintage Wine Gifts in London - 0208 746 7771 - pricey but a reliable retailer if you call and ask for a description of the bottle to make sure it is likely to drink well.

And my recommendation of the three would be:
Calem Quinta da Foz 1984 - for £127 + VAT + £9 delivery for a case of 6 bottles from Everywine. Everywine is a broker, so call them on 01772 799 023 to make sure that the stock is available and be prepared to wait several weeks for them to get the bottles to you. If you don't want six bottles of this particular port, just ask here whether anyone would be interested in buying any of the 6 bottles that you have spare - I would certainly be interested in a couple of bottles of such an unusual port.

Alex