96 points, Wine Enthusiast
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95 points, Vinous
|
91 points, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
|
20/20 points, Richard Mayson
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About the Wine
Critic Reviews
96 points, Wine Enthusiast
95 points, Vinous
95 points, Vinous
91 points, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
20/20 points, Richard Mayson
“This rarest grape variety on Madeira has an awesome ability to age, with 200-year-old examples still full of fruit. That makes this 45-year-old wine almost youthful. It is off dry, with shocking intensity and concentration. Touches of sweeter toffee come through the acidity and old-wood flavors. This is an extraordinary experience. Now it has been bottled, the wine will not age further. So savor now.”
95 points, Vinous
“Cossart Gordon’s 1975 Terrantez (2020 Bottling), which was previously bottled in the late 1990s, is very powerful on the nose; aromas of honey, pressed flowers, furniture polish (antique bureau?) and clove soar from the glass in unison. Side by side, initially I discerned a tad more composure on the 1976 Verdelho. The palate is outstanding: smooth and unerringly harmonious, the acidity is perfect, with a simmering back note of spiciness (stem ginger and lemongrass) that is accentuated on the prolonged finish. The nose begins to cohere with aeration, so that you end up with a gorgeous, quite sophisticated Terrantez. 992 bottles produced.”
95 points, Vinous
“Cossart Gordon’s 1975 Terrantez (2020 Bottling), which was previously bottled in the late 1990s, is very powerful on the nose; aromas of honey, pressed flowers, furniture polish (antique bureau?) and clove soar from the glass in unison. Side by side, initially I discerned a tad more composure on the 1976 Verdelho. The palate is outstanding: smooth and unerringly harmonious, the acidity is perfect, with a simmering back note of spiciness (stem ginger and lemongrass) that is accentuated on the prolonged finish. The nose begins to cohere with aeration, so that you end up with a gorgeous, quite sophisticated Terrantez. 992 bottles produced.”
91 points, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
“Bottled in 2020, Cossart Gordon’s 1975 Terrantez opens in the glass with complex tertiary aromas of spices, beeswax furniture polish, dried fruits, Cognac, toasted pecans and brown sugar. Medium to full-bodied, deep and nicely layered, it’s dry and elegantly austere, its structural bones poking through its mid-palate flesh.”
20/20 points, Richard Mayson
“Terrantez is as rare as hen’s teeth and this dates from a time when it was grown on some of the best south-facing sites close to Funchal that have now been lost to urban development. Mid-deep red-tinged mahogany; quite exotic on the nose, butterscotch and spice with a just touch of wood smoke; unusually rich and suave initially, dried fig richness and intensity (95 g/l residual sugar) offset by characteristic steely acidity cutting through leading to a delightfully fresh, long, utterly precise finish. Glorious: as good as it gets.”
About The Winery
Cossart, Gordon & Co. was established by Francis Newton, a young Scot, in 1745 and is the oldest company in the Madeira wine trade. By 1850, the firm was said to be shipping 'half the growth of the island' leading to the company acquiring an unequaled reputation as suppliers of fine Madeiras. In 1808, the Scottish dominance over the firm was broken with the arrival of William Cossart, an Irishman descended from a distinguished Huguenot family of France. The title of the firm eventually became known as the now world-famous Cossart, Gordon & Co. The Cossart family has remained among the most influential on the island for nearly two centuries.
