This was in August 1926. I wonder how much Port one had to buy in those days to be able to commission a personal Port from Cockburn? Though if Frederick Thellusson drank it by the pint in August, quantity probably wasn't too much of an issue... It would certainly be interesting to look through Cockburn's books for things like this.André L. Simon, in [i]In the Twilight[/i], wrote:It was a very hot day, indeed, and we [ALS, Percy and Frederick, later Lord, Thellusson] had our traditional three bottles of Champagne [...] and it was more than enough for us both on such a hot day. But not for Frederick, who suggested a bottle of Vintage Port, and when we both quite firmly refused, he turned to Baker, our faithful cellarman, and asked for a pint of his own Port, not Port that he had made, but that Cockburn had made for him for years--their finest tawny wine with a dash of young vintage just before bottling. As Baker went to get this wine, Frederick shock his head rather sadly and mumbled audibly: "Degenerates, degenerates, both of you, beaten by the weather"--then he drank his pint of Port. With coffee and cigars we had a marvelous Hine 1844.
Does anyone fancy attempting to recreate this with a bottle of 20 year-old tawny and some 2008 Canais? Or do we assume that the blend was made from an old colheita and so the dash of young vintage was no more unusual than the normal blending of wines which goes into making a normal blended tawny?
