1983 Cockburn's Vintage Port

[Roy Hersh]

In the past year and a half, I have tried three bottles prior to this one. Before that troika, I had always found that the 1983 Cockburn's Vintage Port was at the zenith of that fine vintage. I preferred it to every other bottling of the nearly 20 producers of '83 VPs I have tasted over the years. I long ago finished my first six pack but fortunately there is almost a case left, albeit from two seperate purchase lots. Each and every one of those other bottles showed the coming greatness of this wine. Then in 2004, I opened two back to back corked bottles from my cellar, while my friend Nicos Neocleous was in town. Although he picked a dozen other great ones while here, I was amazed to disappoint us both with consecutive TCA tainted bottles.

A few months ago I opened another bottle and it too was corked and I was very aggravated, having purchased this lot and with no recourse at this point. So it was with baited breath that I opened this bottle. At 10:30 a.m. I pulled this from my cellar and called my daughter to assist me with decanting this bottle, as I want her to learn the procedure. Actually, I was just pleased to hear her pronounce "decant Port" properly. I explained every step of the way to her as I do with each bottle of Vintage Port that I open these days. I was very pleased to note the aromatics that ascended from the decanter, and we each had one small sip and had a good laugh together as she kept sticking her nose in the decanter to smell the wine.

My wife and I started to sip this wine about 8 hours later and it was finished a short while ago. For those that prefer the advice of some Port critics who early on suggested that 1985 was significantly better than 1983, I'd suggest you taste the top ten wines from each vintage. I am confident that there is no contest and have always felt 1983 to be superior, in terms of across the board consistency and quality. The growing season of '83 was fraught with many questions early on with a cold, rainy spring. Fortunately, late in the season and at harvest, things turned out nearly perfectly, weather wise.

1983 Cockburn's Vintage Port - exhibits a translucent medium-red cranberry color that faded to a softer pink towards the edge, with a clear meniscus. I remember how these showed at about 10-15 years old, when I had them pretty often to see their development (and honestly, I could not keep my hands off of them). They were very extracted and just about opaque. Now at 22 years old, this bottle shows lovely secondary notes and I don't have enough RECENT reference points to say whether or not this is typical. The aromatics are profound with spicy cherry pipe tobacco, a huge whiff of mace (the spice), cinnamon and a dollop of chocolate with just the slightest hint of alcohol as well. This is drinking beautifully at the moment. It is certainly not what I'd considere a mature Port but it is heading that way. It is more like a late teen who has already applied for college, showing some sense of direction but not yet a responsible adult. The Cockburn's sits on the palate with a full body weight and languishes in the mouth with an appealing viscous voluptuousness. Don't be fooled by this tantalizing palate presence. This is still a big wine, with a nuanced and elaborate mid-palate that offers up currants, walnuts and toffee.with mocha prevalent on the mindblowing aftertaste. If you own a case, it is certainly time to start to open it and see what you think. I believe that this Port will reach peak sometime beween 2010 - 2015 and should offer a number of years of fine drinking thereafter. However, from this experience, this Cockburn won't be as long lived as I once thought (IF this bottle is representative of the wine). 95 points

[Paul Napolitano]

I always kick myself every time I open one of these. Always too tannic and young but with sure signs of greatness. I haven't had one in about three years. It sounds like its time to try one again.

[Roy Hersh]

I have waited and waited for Mr. Paul Napolitano to come to the fore and join us here at the Forum. I have known Paul for about a decade now, and we have shared many a great bottle of Port & Madeira together, albeit we live on opposite sides of the USA. I will say that of the many Port enthusiasts that I have come across in the USA, Paul has not only one of the great Port collections I know of, but a fantastic palate and knowledge of Port as well. I am very pleased he has finally cashed his check and now joined us.

[Paul Napolitano]

With an intro like that I think maybe Roy has me confused with someone else. But thanks just the same.

[David Spriggs]

Thanks for the note! Like Paul, every bottle of this that I have opened has been brutally closed. After a couple of unpleasent infanticide experiences, I buried all of my remaining bottles off-site. I'll look at trying one again soon.

-Dave-

[Richard Henderson]

I have always liked 83 Cockburn's, never had a bad bottle. Never had to decant it for eons. I just bought the last that Rare Wine had.
The only bad experience I had with 83 Cockburn's was when I traded a couple of bottles with a wine geek friend. My wife was angry and made it a very unpleasant experience until I replaced it.

[Al B.]

I tasted a Cockburn's 83 for the first time last week at a tasting that I organised for some work colleagues. Sadly, the wine was TCA tainted. Not badly enough to destroy the wine but certainly enough to reduce my enjoyment. My note reads:

Decanted for 5 hours. Pale colour, thinning and browning at rim. Hot alcohol on the nose with a musty taint. Is this wine corked? Smooth entry into the mouth bringing sweet fruit. Fruit builds up in the mid-palate with molasses and slightly too much peppery alcohol. Still tannic. Musty. Clearly slightly corked. Long aftertaste of chocolate and coffee and herbs. 87/100.

[Richard Henderson]

I tried this circa January 2006. excellent stuff, no TCA.
The beloved is happy I replaced the traded bottles. 8)
My replacment bottels are The Rare Wine offerings.