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My first vintage port--O HELP!!!!!

Posted by GullsGirl on March 30, 2004 at 01:13:53:
Hello! I am a broke university student with a taste for port (I tend to drink young LBVs mostly). For my birthday, I was given a bottle of 1963 vintage port with no label and 'Avery's Finest Reserve Port 1963' on the top of the sealed cap and 'Avery's of Bristol' on the side. I have every reason to believe it has been stored properly until it came to me. Because it will be years before the student loans get paid off and I can bid on mature ports myself, I really want to get the most out of this experience, so have many questions!
First, how do I store this properly? Where can I find out about this port? I don't know whether to drink it now, or if it's better to wait, or how to even find out. (Generic web searches have got me nowhere.) Is there any place I can go for tasting notes? (I am trying to appreciate and learn about what I'm drinking so I like to have more 'expert' opinions to compare my take on things, sometime.)
I've never had a vintage port before and am terrified of hanging on to this bottle lest I ruin it by storing it wrong, letting it go past its prime, or just looking at it wrong, and I'm terrified to drink it lest I drink it too soon, do this decanting/muslin(??) business wrong, or taste it unprepaired and 'miss out' on unique (for me!!) aspects of the taste experience because I haven't done the research to know what it is I'm enjoying.
Of course, I suppose I could just have a cheap dud from a bad year on my hands which is waaaay past its prime and never meant to be laid down this long--oo, I don't know and am terrified and excited at the same time and don't know who to ask and where to go 'cause I have funky dyed hair and too many piercings for a lot of wine people to take me seriously!! Oh help! Many, many thanks for your help and especially for providing a forum for people like me who love wine and want to learn more, but who are too broke and/or intimidated to throw their hats in the ring with the UberSnobs.