Nice garnet color with good clarity. Classic Port aroma, but nothing distinct initially. Later there was some alcohol and menthol. In the mouth, dark berry; sharp heat competing with strong fruit flavors. 91 points.
I can also vouch that the last couple sips were still TCA free the next morning, so this seems to have been quite the bottle. I'm curious whether there's a rhyme or reason to the corked bottles that could be divined. I know they're all Douro bottled, but perhaps the cases that went to importer X were relatively sound vs the ones that went to importer Y? Probably something that would have been easier to try to track beginning years ago.
Bradley Bogdan wrote:I'm curious whether there's a rhyme or reason to the corked bottles that could be divined.
It seems to be mostly just the bottles from 1983 that say "Cockburn" on the label.
Though to be fair, I'm having pretty good luck with them. This is the 2nd (or 3rd?) in a row that has been superb, and I can only recall a single corked bottle waaay back at one of my earliest tastings - the final session of the 2009 Port Gala. Which, of course, I didn't notice and had to be told it was corked.
This one came from my cellar. I've had quite a few that were not corked and go into detail about how often I've found them in previous cases that I've gone through. Check on the homepage, the Blog entry on how to avoid TCA in this particular VP.
John Vachon wrote:Had my first good one last nite it was better than the 83 Fonseca with it(is one of three good?).
I've never been a fan of the 1980 or 1983 Fonseca. Both are far from the normal greatness this house can achieve. A solid, non-corked, Cockburn blows away any 1983 Fonseca.