Rich and full Ruby Port, with a smooth, soft finish. Krohn's 'entry-level' is in a different category to most Ruby Ports - mature and versatile. 

Tasting Notes

Colour 

Deep red colour.

Nose

Fresh, plummy fruit aromas with a hint of spice.

Palate

The palate has plenty of lively cherry and curranty black fruit - rich and full with a soft finish

Production

Traditional grape varieties are sourced from Krohn's own vineyards, and supplemented by fruit from neighbouring farms working in partnership with Krohn. Here old vines are planted in schistous soils. Fermentation in temperature-controlled stainless steel vats, which is interrupted by the addition of grape spirit to preserve a certain degree of natural sweetness. This wine is a blend of different grapes, vineyards and vintages. Maturation - aged for 2 to 3 years in large, old oak barrels.

Producers

Wiese & Krohn was founded in 1865 by two Norwegians - Theodor Wiese and Dankert Krohn - shipping initially to Scandinavia and Germany. In the century and a half since its foundation, Krohn has built up an outstanding reputation. Long renowned for the quality of their sublime Colheitas (single vintage tawnies), they produce a remarkably complete range for a small house, and each wine excels in its category. Much of the secret lies in the high quality of their vineyards - the magical combination of terroir, locality, aspect, incline and low-yielding vines. Their Quinta do Retiro Novo estate in Sarzedinho, in the Rio Torto valley (where vinification takes place), is an grade vineyard. Indeed Krohn only work with grapes from A-graded vineyards across all of their ports, and their top wines are still trodden by foot. Since 2013 Krohn has been part of the Fladgate Partnership - alongside Taylor's, Fonseca and Croft.

Sustainability

The Krohn estate - which is part of the Taylor Fladgate portfolio has long been committed to the ecological well-being of their vineyards and the Douro valley. To this aim they have developed a model for sustainable vineyard cultivation designed for the steep hillsides of the Douro, where 28,000ha of vineyard (62% of the vineyard area of the region) is planted on hillsides with a gradient over 30%. This involves the construction of narrow terraces inclined at 3º to the horizontal – to allow the perfect balance between rainwater run-off and its penetration of the soil. This avoids top soil erosion which is a key challenge in mountain viticulture.

These terraces each support just one row of vines, and alongside the vines a temporary carpet of selected plant species is sown. This flourishes between November and late spring, preventing invasive plants from taking hold, and eliminating the need for herbicides to control unwanted vegetation.

The cover crop dies back naturally with the onset of summer, when the vines are active. The terrace system leaves tracks between the single row of vines and the foot of the bank, allowing access for machinery to mow any unwanted vegetation into a natural mulch. The mulch reduces water loss and restores natural organic matter to the soil. The absence of herbicides means that vegetation can regenerate easily and naturally each year. They also work hard to ensure the correct selection of vine varieties and their distribution within the vineyard, so that varieties can thrive naturally in each location, developing their own unassisted natural resistance to drought, disease and vineyard pests.

Alongside this Sustainable viticulture model the estate produces renewable energy with photovoltaic panels and has robust energy, water and waste management policies.

This vineyard model earned the Partnership the prestigious BES Biodiversity prize in 2009 (recognising achievement in the fields of conservation and environmental sustainability).

Specifications

Tasting Notes

1963 Cockburn Porto Vintage is a beautiful port. 

Nose

It is intense with tobacco leaves, dark spices,  light color coming out of the bottle that darkens a bit over time.  

Palate

The palate is rich with tobacco, dark chocolate and some kind of herbal blend, along with moderate alcohol.

History

Jancis Robinson on the unique production of 1963: "Rupert Symington: The vintage that saved the port trade. Paul Symington: we weren’t sent to prep school in England in the late 1950s and early 1960s because there was simply no money. There was real hunger in the Douro. But prices for the 1963s were at last on a par with the first growths. Universally declared. Conditions were beautiful. Useful rain. Classic pattern of the growing season. This was the last vintage that the shippers treated in an entirely négociant way. The likes of John Smithes would go and supervise the vintage in outlying quintas with no electricity. The big danger was overfilling the lagares. Derek Smedley remembered the excitement in the tasting room at Harveys when Michael Broadbent and Harry Waugh enthused over this wine." (09/2012)

Accolades

Jancis Robinson (19.5/20)

"Firm healthy ruby, deeper than 1967. Very concentrated and beautifully balanced. Great sweetness and dryness and freshness. Great lift. Utterly flattering. So mellow and far from dying. Long. Edge of ladies handbags; hint of cheesiness. So lively! So complex. Still quite dry on the end but overall delightfully exotic and lively. 1985 - 2035" (tasted Sept 2012)

Wine Advocate (86 points)

"This house tends to produce quite full-bodied, rich, alcoholic, spirited vintage ports... The 1963 is fully mature, spicy, with a chocolaty, meaty texture and somewhat hot, short finish. " (12/1988)

Wine Spectator (88 points)

"This is a very attractive, mature and subtle wine. Medium ruby with a garnet edge, leafy vanilla and cherry aromas, medium-bodied, with a very good concentration of clean fruit flavors and a medium finish." (Web-1988)

Cellar Tracker

"Perfectly integrated and showing cherry, raspberry, baker's spices and hints of fig on the nose and palate. With air the fruit became more plummy in character and picked up more complex dried fruit notes. It's sweet, but not Graham's or Fonseca sweet and there's actually some nice acidity to the wine that keeps it fresh. Seamless with the alcohol sewn into the fabric of the wine nicely." Cellar Tracker 2012

Please Note

A collector's item! We believe this wine to be wonderful - however, as with all aged wines, it comes with a 'Buyers be aware' clause, and some labels may not be perfect. If you have any queries, please just drop us an email or give us a call!

Specifications

A light and fresh Port wine Rosé with a touch of sweetness. Poças honour the legacy of traditional Ports by using their expertise to create this very aromatic wine with hints of berry flavors.

Tasting Notes

This Rosé Port owes its light color to the short contact with the grape skins during the production process. Unique soft taste with intense sweet red fruit including cherries and raspberries. Elegant, refined and supple body.

Producer - Poças Júnior

In 1918, a few months before the Armistice, Manoel Domingues Poças Júnior, who had been born in the heart of the Port Wine hustle and bustle, decided to establish his own company. Manoel Poças was 30 years old and he had some experience in this business. With his uncle, he created a company to sell grape spirits to large Port Wine shippers. Soon afterward he opened a head office in Vila Nova de Gaia, where they remain to this day. Today, with three quintas in the best winemaking areas of the Douro Demarcated Region, Poças ensures its total control over the quality of its wines and the family is more involved than ever before.

Awards

86/100 points: Wine Enthusiast.

Specifications