CH’NG Poh Tiong
Cossart Gordon Sercial Colheita 1910
Shared this over dinner with friends Patricia Britton, Mike Chong, Albert Chuang and S H Lim two weeks ago on the occasion of the wine becoming 111 years young. I had acquired the bottle when I popped into 3 St James’s on a visit to London. This would had been about 25 years ago. Cossart Gordon was established in 1745 but known differently at the time as the founders were William Gordon and Francis Newton. The Scots are great traders and travellers. It was not until 1808 that Irishman William Cossart joined the company. Cossart Gordon is the oldest Madeira wine company today. Berry Bros & Rudd began in 1698 as a small coffee shop. Today, still family-owned, it is best known for its wine expertise. Madeira is a near indestructible wine. The way it is produced, including allowing it to heat up and then cool down and heat up again … a miracle is born of Nature and human ingenuity. Intensely fragrant and fruity. Dried Chinese sour prunes, sandalwood, cinnamon, saltiness, dried figs, Christmas cake, an Aladdin Cave of aromas, flavours and sensations. Most of all, magnificently fresh!!
