1896 Cockburn

[Alex Bridgeman]

Many thanks to Tom for hosting us on 13th December 2018 in the White Horse in Newport for our annual Christmas get-together. 9 of us were able to make it and we had a good evening with a much better success rate than we did last year.

I have finally (as in over 7 years later) posted tasting notes and created threads for the wines we tasted. Those wines were:

1. Bottled by Bailey Brothers of Wakefield, identified from the cork as from the 1920 vintage but no shipper branded - but believed to be Dow
2. Davy's Crusted Port landed 1977
3. Martinez 1927
4. Graham, believed 1955
5. Cockburn 1935
6. Constantino 1935
7. Gonzales Byass 1932
8. Croft 195?
9. Quinta do Noval 1931
10. Unbranded cork, bottled by Mitcheltomb & Sons; believed to be from the second half of 19th century
11. Niepoort 2017 cask sample
12. Warre 1970
13. Churchill 1982

Review thread

Organisation thread

The wine of the night vote had the unknown 1920 from Bailey Brothers of Wakefield favourite with 16 points. In second place was the Graham 1955 with 13 points. In third place was the Quinta do Noval 1931 with 9 points and the elderly Mitcheltomb was in fourth with 8 points. Also scoring were the Cockburn 1935 (4 points), the Constantino 1935 (3 points) and the Martinez 1927 (1 point). Wines 11-13 were not eligible for the WotN vote.

[Alex Bridgeman]

All that was clear about this bottle was that it was old, that it had been filled and sealed by Mitcheltomb & Co. The shipper and vintage was not branded on the cork, but the wax seal was original so the cork is presumed to date from prior to the time when branding started (which we estimate to be around 1904-1908). The bottle had a top shoulder fill.

Very light orange colour; 30% opaque. Oxidised on the nose with fragrant toffee and butterscotch. Gently oxidised on the palate, old and tired. Quite dry with a creme brulee and burnt sugar element to the taste. Good acidity levels keep the palate fresh. Caramel dominates the pleasant aftertaste and leads to a good length finish which shows the charcoal ash character that seems to be consistent in this wine. 83/100.

Discussion suggest this might well be Cockburn 1896 given the flavour profile and Mitcheltomb's links with Cockburn.