1935 Cockburn

[Alex Bridgeman]

From a bottle bought as Taylor 1935 with a "mid-shoulder" description which had leaked on the journey home to finish with a "just below low shoulder" fill - and a cork riddled by cork weevil but still clearly branded as "Cockburn 1935". A clear, ruby shade of tawny; surprisingly red for such a badly ullaged bottle. On the nose is a little toffee and spirit. On the palate, this is wonderful. Deeply flavoursome, full of sweet burnt rhubarb and honey; thick in texture but with perfect acidity. The immediate aftertaste is hot as the alcohol shows clearly, but this is followed by a huge finish of dark honey and lemon with delicious black treacle and a touch of lovely bitterness. This is a seriously good wine that is not going to decline for years yet. 94/100. Drunk 2 September 2010 after 2 hours decanting.

[DRT]

A sample of this was delivered to me blind on Sunday 5th Sep and tasted on the evening of 6th Sep.

Some VA on the nose. Medium weight, quite tawny-like but I don't think it is a tawny. Figs and dates but with quite a sharp acidic edge. The finish is very sweet and long.

Is this another sample from the Ferreira 1963?

I have to say I was very surprised when I found out what this was. As AHB describes, and as I failed to note, the colour was remarkably red for a wine of this age, let alone one from a badly ullaged bottle. Reading my note back it doesn't quite convey the enjoyable experience it was to drink it. I had finished the glass before finding out what it was some 30 minutes later and I could still taste it at that point.

A big thanks to AHB for allowing me to share in the experience of this great old bottle