2005 Cockburn LBV Port

[Ray Barnes]

Although this producer did not make the list of recommendations in a separate LBV thread, I decided to give this one a whirl anyway since it was priced at $25 a bottle in a private store in Surrey BC, about $3 more than Sandeman Ruby Port. I figured it had be worth the extra money. Having tasted it twice tonight, so far unfortunately it is nothing to get excited about. It smells oddly like a wine that has been sitting around for 3 months half opened and somehow forgotten, producing an oxidized, "off" odour that is not very pleasant at all. Near the end there is also a whiff of alcohol too. It neither looks nor tastes very saturated either, with vague dark berry fruit flavours. The label indicated cherry and chocolate, but I found little if any evidence of the latter, even after taking the producer's advice and trying it with chocolate (85% cocoa). This additional step did little to enhance the experience, and perhaps the chocolate might have been better on its own as well. The finish is short too.

I will give it another try tomorrow to see if it has improved. There were 10 bottles of it left in the store, and at this point I have little desire to acquire any more of them.

Overall, a very mediocre effort. This will hardly be my last foray into LBV.

Ray

[Ray Barnes]

I gave the wine another shot this evening, some 27 hours after initial opening. Sorry to say, the wine still smells "off" to me and tastes mildly acidic now, in addition to the vague fruit flavour. Compared to the 2005 Fonseca Guimaraens VP, this is not much different than going from the penthouse to the outhouse.

Considering the summer of 2005 produced wonderful wines throughout much of Europe, Portugal no exception, I find this offering dissapointing. In seeing the (at that time) unprecedented prices for top 2005 Bordeaux crus, the experts were encouraging sticker-shocked consumers to go for the less prestigious releases, which in such a wonderful year couldn't go wrong but be far more affordable. I adopted the same strategy in buying this wine, so far unsuccessfully.

Perhaps tomorrow will bring better news.

Ray

[Ray Barnes]

After admittedly dissapointing initial and following day impressions, just over 48 hours after opening, the wine appears to have shown signs of life after all. Now it no longer smells like stale wine but the slight whiff of alcohol remains. The dark fruit flavour is more fully developed and the acidic finish is gone. Lo and behold, it went well with the same chocolate. While it's not anywhere near a classic, it no longer tastes like a badly made cheap port either. My wife noticed the bouquet improvement too, and a friend who had not suffered the first two days of its life gave it a thumbs up. It's a pleasant drink, upgraded from C-/D to C+, and worth having at its modest price. I now prefer it to Sandeman Ruby Port. It will be interesting to see what happens from here.

I'm surprised a 2005 LBV would need 2 days to start showing its stuff.

Ray

[Ray Barnes]

The 4th tasting of this wine, about 76 hours after unstoppering, showed continued improvement. For subscribers who have read Roy's comments about the 2000 LBV, I can now report that much the same can also be said, finally, about the 2005. Why one has to wait 3 days escapes me, but I am relieved it is indeed a very good effort, not excellent or classic, but well worth the $25 price. Compared to the Casa dos Vinhos madeira, a basic 3 year TNM offering heated by estufagem, a client and I both found the port to be richer in the mid palate and the aftertaste. Perhaps it isn't fair to compare a port to a madeira, but since the latter sells for $27 here, we thought the former was better value. In my relatively limited experience, this is the first time I have found a port preferable to a madeira. I wish this could have been compared to the Cossart & Gordon 5 YO Boal, but alas the latter was gone. The honors would likely have been closely divided.

As in all 3 prior tastings, the wine has a whiff of alcohol, but now less conspicuous. It also does not taste as "hot" either.

According to the producer, its LBVs are lightly filtered and do not require decanting due to lack of sediment. I respectfully beg to differ, that this wine needs as much aeration as it can get, sediment or not. With hindsight knowledge, I should have kept the wine in a decanter in my garage (at cellar temperature).

For now I am grading this LBV a B, assuming it does not go downhill rapidly. I would not recommend it to those looking for a nice glass straight from a fresh bottle, this will require considerable patience. In spite of the light filtration, I suspect it will improve a little with 2 to 3 years of ageing.