Cockburn's Port Bicentenary tasting Celebrating 200 years of this once renowned Port
house, now undergoing a revival under the Symingtons
This was a truly remarkable tasting,
looking at the past and present of possibly the most well known Port
house of all, Cockburn’s. We tasted some
incredible wines, many of which are now extremely rare. It’s a
tasting that will never happen again.
Cockburn's was, for a long while, one of
the very top Port houses. Founded in 1815 by Leith wine merchants
Robert and John Cockburn, it produced some great wines. In the glory
days of the company, Cockburn’s Vintage Port was often the most
expensive of all. In 1962 it was bought by Harveys of Bristol (which
in turn was acquired by Allied Domecq), and the quality began to
wane as the focus shifted to quantity and the bottom line. By the
time it was purchased by the Symingtons, it was still a major
player, but the great Cockburn's Vintage Ports of the early 20th
Century were a distant memory.
The Symingtons bought Cockburn's at the
end of July 2006 (although it wasn’t until 2010 that they took full
control of the brand) and redirected all the Cockburn's grapes to
their own wineries. Cockburn's was short of technical people and
their wineries weren’t big enough, so decisions were being made in
the vineyard for winery reasons. Since 2006 the Symingtons have
reduced the picking rate to about half what it was, picking things
when they should be picked. In 2007 they classified all the farmers,
and closed down two of the wineries, transferring must from these to
others with better conditions.
Another quality gain has been in vineyard
management. 30% of all Cockburn's plantings are Touriga Nacional,
which is a good thing, but most of these grapes were being picked
too early. There was no adapting or flexibility. The Symingtons
introduced GIS systems to look at the vineyards properly, and
understand their natural variability.
Ageing and blending was another area
where quality could be improved. Cockburn’s had 30 000 pipes of
stock, divided between 500 lots, with 60 pipes per lot. The stock
had to be rationalized. 'There were some gems in there,' says Paul
Symington. A major problem was the industrial refrigeration system
that Cockburn's used for all the wineries as part of a stabilization
process. This removes some risk, but it isn't good for quality.
Finally, the Symingtons changed the
management style and company culture. 'When we bought it I was
astonished how different it was to a family company, all based on
reporting,' says Paul. 'There were completely different values to
ours.'
THE WINES
Cockburn's Vintage Port 2014 Douro,
Portugal A blend of 70% Touriga Nacional, 20% Touriga Franca and 10%
Sousão, with the first and third fermented together, which works
really well. This was a challenging year with unsettled weather and
a July rainstorm and unsettled harvest weather. 'We were on for a
cracking year,' says Charles Symington, 'but unfortunately the
weather broke.' But the grapes were ripe at this stage and the
differences among locations were significant. The Douro Superior had
much less harvest rain. This is not a finished wine but it is sweet,
powerful and quite silky, with a bit of spice and ripe, concentrated
fruit. Very pretty, smooth and supple, with the orange blossom and
rose aromas typical of Canais. Canais has 25 hectares of Touriga
Nacional, which is a fabulous amount considering that only 5% of the
Douro is planted with this variety. It contributes magnificent red
fruits and super tannins according to Charles. 93-95/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 2011 Douro,
Portugal The most recently declared vintage, 2011, will be remembered in
history as one of the great years. But at the time, it was a bit of
a rollercoaster. But in the last weekend of August there were a
couple of days' rainfall that came just at the right time, and then
harvest took place in ideal conditions. This is made in the new
Cockburn's style, emulating the great wines of the 1940s, with rock
roe aromatics and silky tannins. It's relatively dry – as dry as
Dow's and drier than Warre and Fonseca. Fresh, supple and elegant
with silky, textured fruit. Very pretty with silky black fruits and
some structure. Lovely fruit purity and precision, with floral and
citrus peel notes. 94/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1977 Douro,
Portugal A widely declared vintage, with a warm autumn allowing perfect
ripening. This is actually a vintage that Cockburn's didn't declare,
along with Noval and Martinez. They may have made a mistake. It was
the first successful vintage after the Carnation Revolution in
Portugal. The Symingtons say that they were worried whether or not
they'd be allowed to stay, even though they'd never lived anywhere
else. The US market took this vintage to heart and it was a huge
commercial success, but Cockburn's didn't share this success because
it was heyday of their Special Reserve Port (first made in 1969),
and the management were asked by head office in Bristol how much
Special Reserve they could make if they didn't declare the vintage
Port. So they didn't declare, but the local management bottled quite
a lot of unofficial Vintage under the radar. Sweetly aromatic and
pure with some notes of dried herbs in the background (typical of
the year) and lovely floral red cherries. On the palate there's tea,
dried herbs, a bit of tannin and some red cherries. Lovely silkiness
and also freshness, with hints of kirsch and mint. Lovely. 95/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1969 Douro,
Portugal This was an under-the radar Port, because no one declared 1969.
It was a year of low yields with bad weather during flowering, and
it came after a decade of three great declarations (60, 63 and 66).
July was hot and then it rained September 11-14, quite heavily: a
bit later than was needed and for rather too long. But Cockburn's,
in the Douro Superior, did better than most. This wine has a warm,
slightly spicy, peppery nose with sweet, refined red cherry fruit
and subtle toffee and raisin richness. There's a subtle minty edge
and refined spiciness on the palate. Ripe yet elegant with lots of
life in it. Superb stuff from a badly regarded vintage with more
sweetness than is usual from this house. 94/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1967 Douro,
Portugal Everyone else declared 1966, but Cockburn's chose the 67 as an
eccentric declaration. Now at its half century (almost), it's a
beautiful wine. Dry and quite delicate, it echoes the great pre-war
vintages of Cockburn's in their heyday. Fresh, aromatic nose with a
hint of mint. Very attractive, slightly earthy and grippy firm
palate with pretty fruit. Spice and raisin notes with fresh cherries
and some warmth. This has a hint of toffee but it's still very much
alive with lovely elegance and softness. Such a pretty wine with
rose petal and tea leaf aromas. 94/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1965 Douro,
Portugal This year was not declared, but it has the qualities of a
declared vintage. It was, at the time, one of the largest vintages
ever in the Douro. Lovely nose of liqourice, tea leaf, rose petal
and glace cherries. Nice density in the mouth: very spicy and a bit
tannic, in an earthy, dry style with a lovely spicy finish. Dense.
Nice citrus peel notes. This is really serious wine with elegance
allied to structure. 96/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1947 Douro,
Portugal Lots of rain in March at budburst, and then it was hot until
early september, when there was some helpful rain. At the time
Maurice Symington commented that the wines took plenty of work, the
colour was excellent, and he had every reason to think they would
turn out well. This 1947 is simply fabulous. It has rich, spicy,
warm aromatics with a hint of coffee and mint, as well as some
fudge. Superbly harmonious, elegant palate with lovely density and
smooth, toffee-edged sweet cherry and plum fruit, showing elegance
and concentration. Harmonious and delicious with no off-notes.
96/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1945 Douro,
Portugal War destroyed Britain's economy, and it took 10-15 years to
heal. This was a great Douro vintage but the biggest problem was the
lack of bottles and the difficulty of transport. It wasn't declared
by Cockburn's because of money issues. Smithies and Cobbs relied on
the UK market, and even finding the money to pay farmers was
difficult. For this tasting four of the last 6 remaining bottles
were opened. It was put into glass demijohns and then bottled
substantially later, so this wine is a hybrid between a tawny and a
vintage wine. Pale golden colour with a smoothness and finesse in
the mouth. Notes of raisins, spice, a hint of cherry, some orange
peel. It shows such precision of flavour still, with incredible
elegance. 96/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1934 Douro,
Portugal This is the year the Port wine institute was formed, and it was
when Cockburn's was really on song. Vintage started on 24 September
and the grapes were incredibly healthy. The vintage was declared by
12 shippers, but not by Cockburn's. Quite a full colour with some
toffee and spice on the nose, as well as red cherries and orange
peel, as well as a bit of kirsch. Sweet and spicy with amazing
intensity, and lovely dense fruit. This is an incredible wine that
is almost perfect. It still has a bit of red colour after all this
time: vital and vibrant. 98/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1924 Douro,
Portugal This was a generally declared year; again, Cockburn's chose not
to declare it. Fresh, vital, slightly spicy nose with notes of herbs
and mint, as well as some rose floral characters, tea leaves and
subtle earthiness. Such warmth on the palate with spice and mint, as
well as a bit of grip. Real richness here with a lovely colour but a
slight edge to the nose. Very interesting. 95/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1918 Douro,
Portugal A difficult vintage on a number of levels. It was the peak of
the influenza epidemic, and many people were absent from the
vineyards through illness. A hot summer and a small harvest, and not
declared. This is a pale colour with a complex nose of iodine,
spice, raisins and red cherries. Some marmalade notes on the palate
with lovely red cherry and citrus peel. Dry, spicy, complex and
detailed. It has a few edges and deviations, but for a 97 year old
wine this is remarkable and fantastically interesting wine. 96/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1908 Douro,
Portugal 'There's no region in the world that can make a wine that will
age like this,' says Paul Symington. The 1908 has a reputation for
being the greatest ever Cockburn's, and for me this was one of the
truly great bottles I've ever had the honour of experiencing.
Supple, sweet, fine and super-elegant with incredible purity. Notes
of citrus peel and almonds, with rose petals and fine red cherries.
So fine, expressive and elegant, this is practically perfect, if
perfection is ever attainable in a wine. 99/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1868 Douro,
Portugal Almost the last year the Port market flourished before it was
destroyed by phylloxera. It was the last year before the railway
line reached the Douro, and at this stage it was almost like a
different country. It took two days on horseback to get from Porto
to the Douro. This is the last remaining bottle from the Cockburn's
cellar and it still had its original cork. Clean tawny colour with a
hint of red. Highly aromatic showing notes of toffee, cedar, subtle
earth, spice and butterscotch. The palate has spice, mint, medicine
and marmalade. Lovely purity for such an old wine: it still has life
to it and lovely finesse. 95/100
Cockburn's Vintage Port 1863 Douro,
Portugal This was an excellent year, regarded as one of the outstanding
vintages in the history of Vintage Port. This is the last remaining
bottle of this wine. Warmand sweet with notes of liqourice and
cedar, with a slight hint of paint products. On the palate it is
lively with citrus peel, spice and some raisin. Lovely freshness and
great acidity here, with real presence and elegance, and subtle
leafy notes. A real piece of history, this is so hard to rate.
95/100
