Winemaker Notes
Cockburn's Special Reserve is the world's most popular premium port. It was first created in 1969. Then, it was the first of its kind and caused a revolution in the way Port was seen and drunk by people around the world. Our winemakers have stayed true to the original style of this remarkable wine. We select only the finest, most concentrated flawlessly perfect grapes from Cockburn’s vineyards at Quinta dos Canais, which are picked by hand during the harvest and then after a little 'pisa' (that’s our word for grape-treading in Portugal) we turn these into wine.
Our Special Reserve still has the lusciously ripe, vibrant fruit of youth and lovely tannins, which give it the slightly peppery spice on the tongue. But it also has the elegance of age: the softness and smoothness that can only be achieved by slow ageing in old oak barrels. That’s what puts the Special in Special Reserve.
It pairs particularly well with cheese and other desserts. And it will stay good for up to six weeks once you’ve opened it.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
Delicately spiced fruit cake bouquet. Dense and rich on the palate with plump plummy fruit. Tannic bite at the back.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The Cockburn's No. 1 Special Reserve Porto shows that sweet, fortified wines can be stylish and excellent. TASTING NOTES: This wine combines delicate black fruit and graphite in its aromas and flavors. Pair it with a bittersweet chocolate torte. (Tasted: April 1, 2020, San Francisco, CA)
Port is a sweet, fortified wine with numerous styles: Ruby, Tawny, Vintage, Late Bottled Vintage (LBV), White, Colheita, and a few unusual others. It is blended from from the most important red grapes of the Douro Valley, based primarily on Touriga Nacional with over 80 other varieties approved for use. Most Ports are best served slightly chilled at around 55-65°F. To learn more, see our full Port Wine Guide
The home of Port—perhaps the most internationally acclaimed beverage—the Douro region of Portugal is one of the world’s oldest delimited wine regions, established in 1756. The vineyards of the Douro, set on the slopes surrounding the Douro River (known as the Duero in Spain), are incredibly steep, necessitating the use of terracing and thus, manual vineyard management as well as harvesting. The Douro's best sites, rare outcroppings of Cambrian schist, are reserved for vineyards that yield high quality Port.
While more than 100 indigenous varieties are approved for wine production in the Douro, there are five primary grapes that make up most Port and the region's excellent, though less known, red table wines. Touriga Nacional is the finest of these, prized for its deep color, tannins and floral aromatics. Tinta Roriz (Spain's Tempranillo) adds bright acidity and red fruit flavors. Touriga Franca shows great persistence of fruit and Tinta Barroca helps round out the blend with its supple texture. Tinta Cão, a fine but low-yielding variety, is now rarely planted but still highly valued for its ability to produce excellent, complex wines.
White wines, generally crisp, mineral-driven blends of Arinto, Viosinho, Gouveio, Malvasia Fina and an assortment of other rare but local varieties, are produced in small quantities but worth noting.
With hot summers and cool, wet winters, the Duoro has a maritime climate.