I’m not a big port fan, but I wouldn’t mind picking up a couple of 75 ports for birthyear celebrations.
Anyone pop any lately, and what should one expect to pay?
TIA.
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I think 75 was an ok year for most VP’s. Maybe people have had experiences with some producers that did better than others?
About a year or so ago I had the 75 Graham’s and Fonseca side by side. The Grahams was good and out shined the Fonseca by a good amount.
Peter, I own cases of port but don’t own any 75’s…Maybe Andy or Roy can come up with something but IMO I wouldn’t want one for a birth year wine.
Suckling described the 1975’s as “light, one-dimensional, and fruity,” and rated the vintage 80 [a pre-grade inflation score]. He also said that 1975 “may be the only generally declared vintage that produced no outstanding wines.” His scores and projected maturity dates [he was tasting these wines in 1989 and 1990]:
Calem (86) (1990) “…perhaps the best 1975 I have tasted.”
Cockburn’s (77) (1990)
Croft (76) (1990)
Dow (80) (1990)
Ferreira (81) (1990)
Fonseca (79) (1990)
Graham’s (78) (1990)
Kopke (82) (1990)
Niepoort (79) (1990)
Quinta do Noval (81) (1990)
Nacional (86) (1990-1995)
Sandeman (78) (1990-1993)
Smith Woodhouse 80) (1990)
Taylor (78) (1990)
Warre (75) (1990)
Just shave a couple of years off and get some 77s. Or pretend you’re Tyler and get some 94s. 
Based on that data, I would lie and say that I was born in '77.
I have never understood the notion of a birth year wine, but then I was born in a year in which no wine region in the world produced anything but plonk. Why not just celebrate with a great bottle of wine, vintage be damned?
Suckling’s 20 year old assessments of the 1975 vintage are “anachronistic at best” and some of those scores seem WAY off to me. In fact, if I was to have this as a birth year instead of a HS graduation year … I’d buy a case of the Ferreira 1975 without thinking twice!
It is a fine wine, and my most recent experience was in around 93 points, though it typically shows in the 91-92 range.
75 Ports are tough. For a birth year wine, some California cabernets are still nice. German ausleses are pretty good also.
As others said, 1975 was a tough year for Port even though it was a major declared year. Interesting note, from what I was told by a producer was there was 3x’s as much VP produced from this vintage than any other major declared year.
Gotta go with Roy here, the Ferreira is probably your safest best and of those I’ve had seemed the most youthful. Better off to do what i do ('73 here) and adopt a nearby vintage like 1977
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Tom,
Your question took me a lot of time to look back into my “OLD” TN file handwritten back in the 1990s in the back of my Suckling book where it has slots for TNs. In both 1997 and then in 1998 (Aspen Food & Wine Classic) I participated in very deep verticals of Ferreira VPs. In all honesty, I have no more current notes than back then for this particular wine, although I have had 1978 several times since. Anyway, back a decade to a dozen years ago, the 1977 was still a bit tannic and showed lots of promise for the future. That future should be now and although Ferreira has an UNCANNY knack for its ability to age and hold on for an amazingly long plateau … I bet the 1977 is pretty darn good at the moment. I know the 1978 is and that is a far more soft vintage (for Ferreira) by comparison.
Sorry I don’t have a more current data point.
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Just had the 1975 Boa Vista it was great and fantastic price. I would suggest searching this out. Bottle came from a friend that bought cases of this at $30.00 (I think maybe less) but it is showing great now. Also had a 1975 Quinta Do Vesuvio a week or so back and was very good but for the money my cash goes to the Boa Vista