For The Love Of Port

From a previously unopened case, I chose the one bottle that had slight signs of seepage.

Impossibly dark glass to check the level, as is so often the case now - the shippers really need to talk to their bottle makers about this...

Decanted 12.45 - a dark youthful, purplish red, average sediment.

First sip

Bouquet is like a cheap vin de pays - hopefully this is just a variant of bottle stink that will go away.

On the palate, sharp as you expect at this stage, but quite fruity and well dimensioned.

See how it evolves..

More anon...

Tom

3 hours on - a small glass

Both on the nose and palate this still has distinct table wine notes, and more than a hint of VA...

This is spoiling what is otherwise a rich, full and very forward wine.

Will it sort itself out, or this a duff bottle...?

Hmm...

Tom

6 hours on

Negative elements are still present, but thankfully much diminished. After a doubtful start, this seems to be coming round. The wine is rich, fruity and very gluggable, but I feel sure it will be better composed tomorrow.

This is the first case of my '94's that I've opened, and my dominant impression so far is how forward the wine is - it seems ahead of most '85's in that respect.

Which begs the question, how well will it last? The assertive fruitiness reminds me of a '63 - were they forward too? Anyone remember what they were like in the mid seventies??

Tom

Definite VA stink on the 94 Cockburn's. From memory, this thing gets really good at 24+ hours on.

30 hours on

The bouquet on this wine is really a bit of a problem.

The bouquet is like that of a cheap red table wine that is well over the hill - VA that doesn't want to go away...

But on the palate it has depth and complexity, showing great maturity for it's limited years.

Is it a duff bottle? I hope so, as I have plenty more.. :?

Time for a score.

With a normal bouquet, this would be scoring well above the median. As it is, however, it is certainly well below the median for immediate gratification, and indeed, well to the lower end of the bottom quartile.

It therefore gets a 1

Where's it going? This wine will improve with a few more years, but seems to have done most of the work already - so just an extra point, a 2

As I suspect this may be a defective bottle, I will put my score in parentheses.

So my score is:

(1-2)

Tom

I had an 85 Dow months ago that had signs of seepage and it had an aroma of nail polish(?) or paint that I believed was VA. Is this an accurate characteristic of VA?

johnsondo wrote:I had an 85 Dow months ago that had signs of seepage and it had an aroma of nail polish(?) or paint that I believed was VA. Is this an accurate characteristic of VA?

That pretty much sums up VA.

Tom,

At first reading I was hoping it was just some bottle stink that would wear off.

Is it possible Port is just really closed up at the moment and in that akward stage of youth? Or damaged from to much air exposure, since it was a leaker...or did it get cooked?

I just opened one.

Ruby colored, certainly not dark. Maybe it will grow into itself with some air. Has a familiar first-opened nose of a prior bottle with licorice and figs riding shotgun. I'm not picking up any VA. After 5 minutes of swirling, the heat seems to be calming down quickly. Little complexity or depth showing at this point. I got this bottle from TX which I have rarely done (and don't anymore) - makes me wonder about what kind of temperatures this has experienced compared to Tom's bottle.

We will see, more later...

uncle tom wrote:

Is it a duff bottle? I hope so, as I have plenty more.. :?

Definitely duff. I've had this several times and my notes are almost the opposite of yours. One of the few young wines already elevated to my all-time top ten.

It does have the quaffable early-drinking characteristics of the 94s but all mine have shown a good sturdy balanced nature that puts it up with the best wines of 94 for the long haul - and maybe my favourite now.

I bought a case (retail ) from BBR. Incidentally, about 3 of those had a bit of sepage so I've had them first.

I like it so much I'm thinking of buying a really big parcel lot for long-term storage for my old age. It's one of the few bargain 94s left.

Mike,

After reading Tom's report, I am glad you opened that puppy so early. I am looking forward to tonight and will decant another bottle so that we can have these side by side. In addition to your Cockburn '94 the bottle I open is one I have not had in ages, so I am looking forward to both. See you tonight.