196 Port anD the Douro
be a better than ordinary vintage...’ He has been proved right. Dow’s (last tasted in 1998)
is extraordinary: still deep in colour for its age, round mid-palate with a good tight, firm
tannic backbone rising on the finish. Taylor (tasted in 2007) is richly scented with fine dark
chocolate backbone, combining length and depth. Ramos Pinto and Ferreira on the other
hand (last tasted in 1999 and 2003 respectively) are now fragile, their residual charm vying
with creeping decay.
Pick of the Vintage: Dow; Taylor.
1917 ***
A late spring and very dry summer resulted in the grapes being rather burnt. The weather
remained favourable until the start of September when two weeks of very hot weather were
followed by thundery rain at the end of the month. The harvest began late (8 October) but
the weather remained fine throughout. Some shippers declared but others overlooked 1917
due to the war. I have only tasted two wines from this vintage. Sandeman is still fine with
berry fruit, tannic spice and sweetness balanced by fresh acidity. Ramos Pinto has a strong
hint of resin on the nose and is now a relic.
1912 ***** classic vintage, some wines still standing up well
Generally declared, 1912 was considered to be a great vintage (perhaps the greatest of the
early twentieth century). The summer was fairly cool but dry and during the first week of
September, Ernest Cockburn notes that ‘the grapes looked good though by no means ripe
as the sugar had up to this time not developed, but fine weather on and after 18^ September
with additional warmth enabled them to make rapid progress... The wines showed a good
average percentage of sugar and had considerable flavour but the yield was on the short
side; as they developed, however, they showed good colour and the year produced some
extremely fine wines for bottling’. The 1912 Cockburn (tasted in 2002 and again in 2012)
is still very much alive. The fruit may be drying out but the wine retains much of its spicy
tannic grip and has an extraordinarily powerful finish. When I tasted it in 2003, Taylor was
even more impressive but a subsequent bottle in 2007 proved to be similarly slightly roasted
but light and rather fragile. Sandeman retains a vestige of fruit but Dow is maderised and
Ferreira somewhat rustic and drying out.
Pick of the Vintage: Cockburn.
1911
Just one shipper, Sandeman, declared a wine for King George V’s Coronation. Now
autumnal in character but very sweet and unctuous.
1908 ** / *** fine, long-lived vintage
A cold winter was followed by a hot summer. Both Ernest Cockburn and John Warre
concur: ‘It seemed probable from the start that the year would be declared a vintage Year,’