Who’s behind PortDB?
I’m Edward Harker. I created and maintain PortDB, a guide to choosing when to open a bottle of Vintage Port.
You can compare 313 wines from 21 houses, with vintages from 1908 to 2024.
Where the wine information comes from
The information comes from producer websites and wine references, including The Vintage Port Site and Decanter. Each wine names its source; 285 entries also have a link you can follow.
You can browse the list of sources or download the wine data.
The guide includes general and single-quinta Vintage Ports. It’s a selection, so some wines and years are missing.
What the wine ratings mean
PortDB uses four ratings: legendary, classic, very good and good. These are editorial judgements based on the listed references.
On the vintage chart and best-years guide, each year shows the highest rating among the general Vintage Ports listed for that year.
How the drinking dates are worked out
PortDB estimates a wine’s drinking window from its ageing style, rating and whether it’s a single-quinta Port.
The four styles describe how quickly a wine is expected to mature. These are the starting ages, in years after the vintage.
| Style | Ready from | Prime through | Decline from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structured | 22 | 55 | 90 |
| Opulent | 20 | 52 | 80 |
| Balanced | 18 | 42 | 65 |
| Elegant | 15 | 38 | 55 |
For general Vintage Ports, higher ratings extend the prime period and delay decline. Legendary adds 25 years, classic adds 12, very good adds 5 and good adds none. The ready-from age stays the same.
For single-quinta Ports, the calculation brings the ready-from age forward by 8 years and shortens the base lifespan to 62%. It adds 50% of the rating bonus, rounded to a whole year. The prime period is brought forward too, and ends at least four years before decline.
For example: Taylor’s 1994 has a structured style and a legendary rating. Its estimated drinking window opens in 2016, with its prime lasting through 2074 and decline starting in 2109. Read the wine entry and its source.
The tool uses these dates to suggest whether to open a bottle or wait. Too early means it’s more than five years from its estimated drinking window. Hold covers the last five years before the window opens. Drink means it’s between the ready-from and decline dates. Past peak means it has reached the estimated age for decline.
When several wines match your search, the tool sorts them by maturity, wine rating and house style.
The calculation doesn’t account for storage, cork condition, bottle size or your own taste. Check the bottle’s history and condition when deciding whether to open it.
See the calculation
You can read the full calculation in the model’s source code. The tool and the wine pages both use it.
Questions or corrections?
Email contact@portdb.wine if you have a question or find a mistake, a missing wine or a broken link. For corrections, include the page address, wine and vintage, and a source if you have one.
Some buy links are affiliate links. PortDB may earn a commission when you click or make a qualifying purchase, at no extra cost to you. The retailer and commission don’t affect the calculated drinking dates.