ThePortForum.com

Hi,
My mother recently gave my husband a bottle of 1966 Grahams vintage port but he feels he wouldn't appreciate it and would rather it went to someone who would.
I remember it belonged to my father who found it in the loft of our family house when we moved in and it was stored under the stairs where it stayed until now.
Where would be the best place to sell this and how do I go about it? Genuine sale and photos available.
Any help gratefully appreciated. We are hoping to send my mum for some spa treatments with the money we raise.
Kind regards
Samantha

Samantha,

Graham's 1966 is an excellent vintage port which sells for around £100-£150 per bottle from good quality wine merchants and less than that from auction.

When selling privately it is very difficult to achieve the price that a wine merchant can charge as the buyer has no protection in a private sale and the history of the bottle is often less certain. Our typical advice here is that private sellers can expect to receive around 50% of the retail price, which means you would be looking at £50-£75 for your bottle.

However, the big problem with this bottle is that it was stored in a loft, which is perhaps the worst possible place to store wine due to seasonal temperature fluctuation. If it was in the loft for a long period of time it could well be ruined so this represents a very big risk to any purchaser and that risk would be reflected in the price. With that provenance I think you are looking at £30-£50.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Derek

Samantha

As DRT has said, this is a great port but one which is likely to have suffered terribly by being stored in a loft. Your best bet is likely to sell it through your local auction house, but be prepared to get as little as £20-30 after deducting the auction houses costs.

Sorry not to give you better news. Cooking a nice meal with a port reduction sauce might be one of the best uses for this bottle.