For The Love Of Port

Hi,

I recently bought a bottle of Cockburn 20 year Tawny that was delicious. It was in a clear and elegant bottle. But when I try to find the same bottle, no one seems to carry it. I do notice the Cockburn 20 year Tawny in the traditional dark bottle. Is this the same port or was the clear bottle a special vintage (sorry I'm a port newbie)?

Thanks,

Frank

I don't know for sure about the 20 year old as I don't get to see that one in my market, but I did notice recently that the Cockburn 10yr old had moved from a brown 750ml bottle to a clear 500ml bottle.
I also noticed that the price remained pretty much the same despite there being 250 mls less in the bottle.
I'd expect that the brown bottles you are seeing are a slightly older bottling and you will gradually see more of the clear bottles around. Make sure you compare prices though, as the brown bottles will probably offer better value.

Cockburn's was recently bought by the Symington Family Estates (Dow's, Graham's, Warre's, etc) and they have been making some changes in packaging. I suspect they've changed this one as well (they changed the Cockburn's Special Reserve bottle not to long ago). I suspect the quality has increased now that the Sym's are in charge of it. As the previous owners weren't exactly as concerned about quality as the Sym's are.