Vintage port, at the very top of the quality chain, is a blend of several grape varieties from a single vintage and accounts for only 1 percent to 2 percent of the production. At certain quintas, grapes are still crushed by foot-treading in shallow granite vats called lagares; some now rely on mechanical “feet.”

Although sales of most styles of port are in decline—and the wine revolution in the Douro is all about dry reds—the premium end of port has been showing steady growth. One reason for a recent uptick was the great 2011 vintage, released in 2013, which excited new buyers. (Concurrently, 2011 was a poor year for Bordeaux and Burgundies.)

Port producers point out that current prices for the 2011s have risen significantly since they were released five years ago. Bottles of Dow’s, a top port house owned by Symington Family Estates, for example, have appreciated 211 percent.

A Collector’s Market
Port still has an image problem in the market. Too many drinkers see all ports as old-fashioned and too sweet. David Guimaraens of the Fladgate Partnership, which owns three top estates, admits: “Vintage port is for wine enthusiasts. It’s best served as a relaxation drink at the end of dinner.”

Christian Seely explains, “Our biggest challenge is convincing people these are among the greatest wines in the world. They’re at the quality level of Bordeaux first growths, but command only one-tenth of the price.”

In other words, they’re bargains.

Brexit is another looming market issue that makes this a prime time for collectors to get in on vintage port. The biggest followers of the fortified wine are the British. Ending a fancy dinner without port is practically unthinkable in the U.K., which is why the Queen’s 2015 state banquet for Xi Jinping featured glasses of 1977 Warre’s.

If the U.K. leaves the single market and applies tariffs on EU goods, prices of port will rise and demand could slump.

“We’re already feeling the effect of the depreciation of sterling against the euro since June 2016,” says Rupert Symington. “Profitability has been greatly reduced.”

So far the Chinese aren’t yet chasing the top port names they way they do Bordeaux and Burgundies. But hope springs eternal; Symington says his company keeps a full-time representative in Shanghai.