Cossart Gordon 5 Year Old Bual Madeira, Portugal

Cossart Gordon is one of the most venerable labels from the Portuguese-owned island of Madeira, 400 miles west of Casablanca.  Now owned by the Madeira Wine Company (which also owns Blandy’s Madeira and others), it operates separately making wine from its contracted vineyards.  Fermentation is stopped after 3 days in stainless steel tanks at the desired degree of sweetness.  It is then aged in American oak casks with gentle heating in the lofts of the lodges in Funchal, Madeira’s main city.  Over the years the wine is transferred from the top floors to the middle floors and eventually to the ground floor where it is cooler. After this gradual ‘estufagem’ the wine underwent racking and fining before the blend was assembled and bottled.  The wine has been fined and doesn’t require decanting.  It is excellent as an after dinner drink and also very good with fruit, milk chocolate, cakes and hard cheeses. It has been bottled when ready for drinking and will keep for several months after opening.  Clear, amber color with tinges of gold; a bouquet of dried fruit, vanilla, wood and toffee with a smooth, medium-sweet finish and an excellent balance between the fruit and acidity.