1994 Cockburn

[Alex Bridgeman]

Served by the glass from a bottle decanted an unknown time ago. Deep red with a hint of brick on the rim; just off opaque in the centre. Dusty red cherries in the nose, more attractive than I expected given my past experience with this port. Soft, sweet and fruity at first on the palate before a fierce acidity bites down on the tongue. Despite the fierce acidity this is fragrant and elegant, not a burly port but not a wimp either. The aftertaste is rather fierce with the biting acidity and alcohol searing the palate but they combine to deliver an amazingly long finish of star fruit and licorice root. Overall I was very surprised by what a good and pleasant port this is. My earlier experience of Ck94 is of a poor port suffering from problematic levels of VA. On the basis of this glass I have been missing out! 89/100. Drunk 27 Mar 2015.