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1987 Vintage Port

Every 1987 Port in PortDB, rated and placed on its drinking window.

Updated

1987 was a declared Port vintage, but PortDB records it thinly. It was a limited declaration — Martinez, Royal Oporto shipped a general Vintage Port, and PortDB rates the better of them good, which stands as the year's rating here — but it rests on two records, so treat it as provisional rather than a survey of the vintage. The dataset holds 5 wines from the year, 3 of them single-quinta releases. Windows open 1997–2005, with decline modelled from 2027–2052.

Rating
Good
Declaration
Limited
Houses declaring
2
Wines in PortDB
5 (3 single-quinta)
Windows open
1997–2005
Tiers
1 very good · 4 good

Every 1987 Port

When to drink the 1987s

The drinking window is derived from the house’s maturation style, stretched by the strength of the vintage and shortened for single-quinta releases. The years below are fixed for each wine; whether a bottle is ready today is shown on each entry above once JavaScript loads.

Structured · 1 wine
Taylor's — windows open 2001, modelled to decline from 2043.
Opulent · 1 wine
Fonseca — windows open 1999, modelled to decline from 2040.
Balanced · 2 wines
Warre's, Martinez — windows open 1997–2005, modelled to decline from 2027–2052.
Elegant · 1 wine
Royal Oporto — windows open 2002, modelled to decline from 2042.

1987 in context

Vintages either side of 1987
1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990
Other good years
1972 1978 1995 2004

See every year rated on the Port vintage chart, the greatest years ranked in best years for Port, or compare the shippers on the Port houses.

Common questions about 1987 Port

Was 1987 a good year for Port?

1987 was declared, so the houses that shipped it — Martinez, Royal Oporto — judged the year outstanding. But PortDB holds only 2 general declarations for 1987, which is too thin to rate the vintage as a whole, so the good rating here is provisional. Tier judgements reflect critic consensus and are editorial; which houses declared is public record.

Which houses declared 1987?

Martinez, Royal Oporto. A further 3 single-quinta wines were released alongside the general declarations. PortDB's dataset is not exhaustive — it holds the houses it has been able to verify against primary sources.

When should you drink 1987 Port?

Every 1987 in the dataset has its own modelled window above. Across all 5 wines, windows open 1997–2005 and decline is modelled from 2027–2052. The spread comes from house style — structured houses open around 22 years; opulent houses open around 20 years; balanced houses open around 18 years; elegant houses open around 15 years — stretched by the strength of the vintage and pulled earlier for the single-quinta wines. To check a specific bottle against today's date, use the maturity tool. These are modelled windows, not measurements: storage and bottle variation move the goalposts.

Which is the best 1987 Port?

PortDB does not rank wines within a year, but it does record a quality tier for each. The only 1987 it rates very good is Fonseca Guimaraens. Those tiers reflect critic consensus and are a matter of editorial judgement, not a measurement. Which is “best” for you is also a question of house style: a structured house rewards patience, an opulent one gives more, sooner.

Sources for the 1987 records