Winemaker Notes
-- Miguel Côrte-Real, Cockburn's Viticultural & Commercial Director
"Our blenders have been tasting, categorizing and identifying the wines that might go into the final vintage blend for the best part of two years now. Only after the most rigorous selection was the final decision taken; it's been a long, focused, process. This wine is intensely purple in color, with aromas of blackberries and mature plums; full and firm on palate, with a long fruity finish resonating with chocolate overtones. Try with a Stilton Blue and hazelnuts"
-- Jim Reader, Cockburn's Head of Wine Making and General Manager
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Fantastic aromas of blackberries and tar. Lightly stemmy, which is the sign of a great young Vintage Port. Full-bodied, with wonderfully integrated tannins and a lasting finish. Lots of plums and raspberries. The new 1927? Best after 2012. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 3,000 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The fresh herb-laced aromatics of the dark-colored 2003 Cockburn Vintage Port reveal loads of spirit-infused black fruits. Armed with a gorgeously rich and fruit-packed mid-palate, this chocolate, black cherry, as well as sweet plum drenched wine appears to slightly drop-off before roaring back to display a long finish. After 4 days of air, this wine exhibited disturbing levels of volatile acidity. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2020. Incidentally, two other vintage ports from the Cockburn house were tasted, the Martinez (two bottles revealed excessive volatile acidity) and the Quinta dos Canais which was outstandingly engaging yet, with air, displayed disturbing volatile traits.
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.