Winemaker Notes
Declaring a vintage is a weighty decision for port producers, as the company's reputation is largely determined by the quality and style of its vintage port (even though vintage declarations amount to only 1-3% of the total production in any year). Therefore, when Cockburn's declares a wine worthy of a vintage designation, the wine must be outstanding. Cockburn's has historically been more conservative than other port houses in declaring a vintage, choosing to declare only those years that best suit its elegant, less sweet style. Before declaring, Cockburn's blenders taste, categorize and identify those wines that might ultimately become a vintage blend. Only after this rigorous two-year selection process is a final decision made.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Potentially one of the most compelling wines of the vintage, this inky black/purple-colored 2000 exhibits notes of scorched earth, melted asphalt, blackberry liqueur, and a pungent, penetrating intensity that reverberates in the mouth as well as the head. Full-bodied, massive, and concentrated, with a 45-second finish, this thrilling effort should drink well between 2010-2035.
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Wine Spectator
Nicely made. Very subtle aromas of crushed berries, roses and lavender. Full-bodied, lightly sweet, with big juicy tannins and a long fruity finish.
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Wine & Spirits
The 2000 vintage created luscious Port wines, this one supple and heady with ripe plum fruit pressed up against a solid wall of tannins. The fruit blasts through the tannins and lasts, the wine still youthfully oaky and floral...
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.