2000 Cockburn LBV Port

[Todd Pettinger]

Cockburn Late Bottled Vintage – 2000
Bottled in 2006. Filtered, so there should be little, if any development in-bottle.

Upon opening
Having never tried this LBV, I decided to bring it to the front of Death Row after reading Raj’s request for TNs on 2000 LBVs. It was brought upstairs, opened and poured immediately while still a tad cool. Translucent ruby colour. If I tried real hard I could almost see through this wine. Very atypical for most good ports. After a harsh, astringent, acidic first nose, I can’t say I was expecting it to be good.

A bit dryer in style, the initial sweet fruit burst of grapes and red cherries led way to a cocoa mid-palate. A bit of dark chocolate hangs around in the predominantly dry follow-through with relatively balanced acidity and a touch of alcohol.

+2 hours
The alcohol is starting to show a bit more strength. Others may describe this as a “varnish” taste, this seems to fit the bill. Less fruit, no chocolate that was first on the palate, this port seems now to be dominated by the spirit. A touch of licorice has made its way in as well. Still dry (to my taste) which I don’t particularly enjoy. This still is not a bad bottle, I would have it again, but it might need pairing with something on the sweeter side, a custard, a crème caramel or brulee, a tiramisu dessert.

+20 hours
I went back through what I wrote yesterday and was surprised (and a tad put-off at myself) that I did not include this in the note "very thin, lacking any true body or consistency."

Today a bit of the sheer varnish taste and nose may have blown over, but the port itself remains woefully insufficient. I suspect that bringing itself to room temperature did not do good things for this wine and the last glass-worth in the bottle has been banished back to the basement for the evening to cool its heels.

Yesterday I stated I might revisit this port again. Today I disagree with myself. Not likely.

+24 hours
After chilling the remaining port in the basement, which is considerably cooler than the main floor if my house, this port still lacks the satisfaction I craved of it. A bit of raspberry has shown up late, but the palate is still dominated by grapey spirit. I did not notice oakiness previously but it is present tonight, with a touch of pepper in the follow-through. The spirit sits on the tongue and gives a distinct after burn that detracts from the port itself. Still a dry style port, very thin and unsatisfying. Not one I intend to revisit. There are many better bottles of LBV out there, although being not as rich and sweet as others, this has the potential to bring delight to the dryer port lovers.

Todd