Port has been made in a variety of styles for many years in California although it was made popular in Portugal during the Napoleonic wars. With the British populace cut off from their usual supply of Bordeaux and Burgandy, they turned to the wines of Portugal where much of the early land battles of the war were fought. The fortified wines held up quite well during transit back to England, and so a love affair with these often sweet, yet sometimes dry fortified wines was born.
And so today we have gone from this....
To this....
While Port has definitely not captured the hearts and minds of the majority of wine drinkers, for a select few it is a real obsession, and a great example of one of the many quirks of nut just the wine business, but of industry in general.
In the world of wine perceived value is something you can add or take away almost instantly simply by raising or lowering the price. The theory of supply and demand is perfectly played out here with Port. Let a wine age in a barrel for 20 years and the value is increased 10 fold! While there are legitimate reasons why certain wines cost more than others, its amazing to see how some wines just sell better when producers raise their prices, convincing people that what they're buying is that much more "special".
Take the Louis M. Martini Tawny Port. Here's a wine that the Martinis had made throughout the 1940s up until the 70s, and then phased out Production in favor of Ruby "vintage" ports and Cabernet Ports. Fast forward a few decades to the 1990s when a lost and forgotten barrel of the original Tawny Port is discovered in the cellar after aging for 65 years, making it the oldest surviving Port in California. Obviously, this is a pretty special wine. It deserves a price tag to match it. In the case of the "Very Tawny" Port at Louis Martini, its 150 dollars. We're only allowed to sell it one bottle at a time because there's simply not enough bottles yet. All these factors come together to make for a product that people just can't wait to buy.
Imagine if that was the case for the makers of these products....
I'm not sure if I could sell a flaming red pimp hearse, no matter how many years it had "aged".
I currently have a 375ml bottle of this rare tawny port which I purchased from the winery in 2005. I am reluctant to open it and tried finding another bottle but have been unsuccessful. How much does a bottle currently sell for?
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