Cockburn's Vintage Port 2017
-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The Cockburn 2017 has resinous, forest floor aromas with bergamot notes mingling with rockrose scents. Fresh, mineral notes are evocative of eucalyptus and anise. The palate is intense with layers of blueberry and kirsch flavors underpinned by peppery tannins which provide Cockburn's. signature grip. A very complete wine, complex and finely tuned that suggests impressive longevity.
Professional Ratings
-
James Suckling
Insane aromas of crushed berry, flowers and lifted ester like a fermenting lager. Full body, tannic yet so finely grained in texture. Extremely long and beautiful. It goes on for minutes.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Vintage Port is a blend of 52% Touriga Nacional, 30% Touriga Franca and small portions of Sousão and Alicante Bouschet bottled about a month before this tasting after 18 months in seasoned vats. However, I actually tasted a pre-bottling sample because there was some fear of bottling shock. This is sourced from south-facing vineyards in Douro Superior that have a higher proportion of Touriga Nacional. It comes in with 107 grams of residual sugar. The terroir and the vintage combine to make this a wine that seems at the moment a bit bigger than Dow's this year. Unlike in 2015, however, it also maintains its balance well. This has velvet for texture, fine aromatics and a long finish, but it is always elegant, never jammy. It is still concentrated, and aeration proves how well it can evolve. It finishes with some pop and power, but it will be approachable relatively young. Relatively is the key word there, as it shows plenty of power. Like the Warre's, a Symington sibling this issue, it seems to be a cut above this year, the best in the brand for a while, and superior to both the 2016 and 2015. It is able to hold up to some of its more famous siblings in the Symington stable this issue.
-
Wine Spectator
Packed with creamed blueberry, açaí berry and boysenberry fruit and carried by waves of velvety structure and warm fruitcake notes, this is showy in style, featuring an embedded graphite spine, alluring spice details and a flash of floral nuance through the finish, imparting superior range and length. Best from 2032 through 2050.
-
Wine & Spirits
Cockburn’s had made a major investment in new plantings of touriga nacional during the 1980s, an asset that modernized and enriched what had been a traditional British style. Perhaps the 2017 vintage, which Charles Symington reports as particularly noteworthy for touriga franca, helped guide Cockburn’s back toward its classical elegance. This is tight and firm, with a cool feel in spite of its peppery intensity of alcohol. As the wine develops with air, there’s a moment when the wine achieves an impeccable balance—a taste of chocolate in heaven—before the tannins begin to show the green edges of youth. Consider this in 20 years.
Other Vintages
2016-
Suckling
James - Decanter
-
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
- Decanter
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Spectator
Wine
Cockburn's (Coh-burns) was founded in 1815 and has grown to become one of the world's great port houses. Makers of a complete line of fine ports, including Cockburn's Special Reserve - the world's most popular premium port -Cockburn's is known worldwide for its mature, less sweet wine style.
What sets Cockburn's apart from all other port houses is a rigorous quality control standard exercised on all aspects of production. Being the largest vineyard owner in the Port district also gives Cockburn's significant access to stocks of aged wines for its many fine blends.
Cockburn's family of ports includes Special Reserve, Vintage Port, Anno (Late Bottled Vintage) and Quinta dos Canais (Single Quinta Vintage), Fine Ruby, Fine Tawny, and 10- and 20-year-old Tawnies.
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.
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.