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The question
A friend of mine was cleaning out his parents' condo as they moved to a retirement home. I am now the proud owner of an unopened bottle of 1972 Taylor's Late Bottled Vintage Reserve Port. Is it still good? There does not appear to be a lot of sediment inside. Any idea what it is worth? I looked online and there was one bottle in Brazil asking $917 (Canadian).
The answer
You're looking at a piece of history if not a gold mine. The wine, like the 1972 album Superfly by Curtis Mayfield, has probably aged less than gracefully 44 years on. But you're sensible to ask. Port wine is a sturdy beast. It's rich in sugar and fortified with a high-alcohol spirit to give it strength, warmth and stamina. Both those ingredients assist in preservation. Some port wines can not only endure but significantly develop prized secondary nuances and complexity. This notably is the case with the category known simply as vintage port, the top of the heap when it comes to Portugal's signature fortified wine. I hope I haven't confused you; port is not the easiest beverage to understand.
Here's the short terminology lesson. "Vintage port" is distinct from the bottle you've inherited, which belongs to the "late-bottled vintage" style, or LBV in port-nerd shorthand. There's a big difference. Venerable vintage ports, which tend to cost between $80 and $180, take a unique route from vineyard to bottle. Like LBVs they represent a selection of the best juice from a single year (hence the term "vintage"), but they are matured in wood for a mere 20 months or so before going into bottle. Youthful and tough, without the benefit of filtration, these vintage wines are designed for the long haul, protected against the ravages of time by the astringent, antioxidant tannins of grape skins and seeds.
LBV ports, on the other hand, emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as a sort of junior-league version. (Taylor, the producer of your bottle, claims to have invented the style, but that's a matter of debate.) These wines are designed to treat consumers to the basic experience of vintage port without the added expense or cellaring commitment. LBVs are matured in wood for four to six years, a process that mellows the wine more quickly thanks to the influence of oxygen in those wooden barrels. The wines also tend to be filtered, so there's no sediment to get in the way of easy drinking.
LBV ports can last for many years unopened, but generally they won't improve with age. You might succeed in selling your bottle online at high profit in Brazil, but most seasoned port collectors would sooner pay $18 for a current bottle of Taylor Fladgate Late Bottled Vintage. Good luck – and let me know how it tastes if you decide to pop the cork.
The Flavour Principle by Lucy Waverman and Beppi Crosariol (HarperCollins) won top prize for best general English cookbook at the 2014 Taste Canada Food Writing Awards.
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