# Where can I buy a Port Bottle Tilting Device?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-buy-a-port-bottle-tilting-device/743029>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 13, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-buy-a-port-bottle-tilting-device/743029 "2016-01-13T13:15:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![botsgotme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@botsgotme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/botsgotme)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-buy-a-port-bottle-tilting-device/743029/1 "2016-01-13T13:15:26Z")

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In the opening of the 1970 movie (“The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes”), Holme’s brother Mycroft is seen using a hand cranked device to tilt a bottle of port. this is done so as not to disturb the sediment at the bottom (of an old bottle of port wine). I cannot fiond such a device on ebay-but they seemed to be in common use in Edwardian England. Do you need one to enjoy a good bottle of port?

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**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-buy-a-port-bottle-tilting-device/743029/2 "2016-01-13T13:56:31Z")

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If you have a really old vintage that has thrown a lot of sediment in the bottle then you would want to take steps to avoid drinking it, but the problem doesn’t arise with a typical swilling port or even an LBV, which has been cask-matured for longer than usual and bottled at a later stage in its life (hence the name).

Absent a device which was probably confined to a small sector of English society, and that a hundred-odd years ago, you can probably just decant the stuff gently being careful not to disturb the liquid in the bottom of the bottle.

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**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\
**Post date:** [January 13, 2016, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-buy-a-port-bottle-tilting-device/743029/3 "2016-01-13T14:37:07Z")

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It is called a decanting cradle and you can buy antique ones on etsy.

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**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-buy-a-port-bottle-tilting-device/743029/4 "2016-01-14T21:25:00Z")

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[Voila.](http://winecare.co.uk/acatalog/brass_decanting_cradle.html)

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**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\
**Post date:** [January 14, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-i-buy-a-port-bottle-tilting-device/743029/5 "2016-01-14T21:45:18Z")

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Knowing nothing about port, wouldn’t it be just as reasonable to pour through a filter?