ThePortForum.com

Hi,

This is my first post and you will see that I know next to nothing about Port or wine. I've found the forum using Google, and am hoping someone can give me some advice.

Many years ago, probably sometime in the early nineties, I was given a bottle of 1986 Croft Late Bottled Vintage Port, bottled in 1992. It is in a wooden presentation case with 2 glasses. Not being a wine / port drinker, it has spent it's life in the cupboard under the stairs, although whether it was laying down or upright will have depended on what else was in there and the space available at the time. From my research so far I now know that this is not good.

My question is, firstly, is it worth anything ? Secondly, if it does have any value, how would I go about selling it ?

Thanks for any help.

Ice

Hello and welcome.

Ice wrote:is it worth anything ?

About a tenner for the bottle. Maybe twenty. If the glasses are fine cut crystal, they might have about the same value. If moulded glass of no great merit, £1 each.

It might, and might not, be fair drinking port, even if lighter than ideal. My strong recommendation is to drink it. Next time you’re having a steak, decant it an hour in advance, and (hopefully) enjoy.

Ice wrote:My question is, firstly, is it worth anything ? Secondly, if it does have any value, how would I go about selling it ?

Vintage Wine Gifts lists it for $65, but their prices are typically fairly high. (I'm in the USA so winesearcher automatically converts the prices for me. The price is no doubt listed in pounds on their website, probably about £40.) I doubt you would get anywhere near that much in a private sale - jdaw1's estimate of £20 seems much more likely even with the pair of glasses included. Unless, as he said, the glasses are themselves fine crystal such as Riedel Vinum or the like.

I echo jdaw1's recommendation that you drink it and enjoy it yourself or with friends/family. Use the occasion to remember the gift and it will be worth far more than a couple of tenners. An LBV with that much age on it can be lovely if well-stored, but it sounds like yours probably wasn't so it is likely to be fairly light. It will probably still be a pleasant drink; it just won't be as good as it could have been.