96 points, Wine Enthusiast
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95 points, Washington Wine Blog
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93 points, Wine Spectator
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93 points, Wine & Spirits
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92 points, Wine Advocate
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92 points, Vinous
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17 points, Jancis Robinson MW
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About the Wine
Critic Reviews
96 points, Wine Enthusiast
95 points, Washington Wine Blog
93 points, Wine & Spirits
93 points, Wine Spectator
92 points, Vinous
92 points, Wine Advocate
17 points, Jancis Robinson MW
"This is a rich, intense and dense wine. Aging in wood has concentrated the ripe fruit, bringing an old-gold character to the wine. It is supremely rich with flavors of molasses and also tight with great acidity. Drink this superb wine now. ROGER VOSS"
95 points, Washington Wine Blog
“An untterly sensational Madeira, the 1989 ‘Bual’ was aged for 29 years in seasoned American oak casks in the traditonal ‘Canteiro’ system before bottling in 2018. Complex brandy soaked cherry and orange rind aromas are woven together with wintergreen, quince and salted toffee tones on the nose. The palate shows great length and richness, with incredible depth and concentration. Honeydew melon and salted Macadamia nut tones meld with minerals, peat moss, brandy soaked pear and shades of sour pineapple on this evocative palate. The extraordinary, one minute long finish, provides the resounding crescendo. Gorgeous to enjoy now at the thirty one year mark, the 1989 Cossart Gordon ‘Bual’ Madeira will enjoy at least another two decades of life ahead of it. Drink 2020-2040”
93 points, Wine & Spirits
"Crunchy and remarkably fresh for a 30-year-old wine, this starts out with a cocoa richness that slowly reveals bitter-orange flavors, notes of butterscotch, golden apples and pink-grapefruit marmalade. The wine’s mellow sweetness is managed by crisply detailed acidity, so any threats of cloying intensity immediately yield to complexity as you exhale. Premium Port Wines, San Francisco, CA"
93 points, Wine Spectator
“This juicy version brims with sweet toasted almond, praline and hazelnut notes, backed by lively sesame, green tea and bergamot flavors. Shows a sweetness through the finish, but maintains tension and balance due to a thread of bitter orange. Drink now.”
92 points, Vinous
“The 1989 Bual from Cossart Gordon (bottled in 2018) has a fragrant bouquet with scents of grilled walnut, cigar box, touches of eau de vie and juniper berries, all very well defined and displaying ample intensity. The well-balanced palate offers nutmeg and allspice and shows lovely weight. Certainly one of the most elegant of Blandy’s Buals in recent years. Maybe a little more complexity on the aftertaste would have merited a higher appraisal, but this is compensated with wonderful freshness. Recommended. 735 bottles made. Tasted at John E. Fells portfolio tasting in London.”
92 points, Wine Advocate
“Bottled in 2018, the 1989 Bual offers up an attractive bouquet of dried figs, beeswax furniture polish, mocha and sultanas that gains in coherence and amplitude with aeration. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, bright and incisive, with a delicately textural attack and good concentration at the core, built around a tangy spine of acidity that lends superb drive to the long, penetrating finish. Oxygen really is this Bual’s friend, as the wine was quite tight on opening and came into its own after 48 hours.”
17 points, Jancis Robinson MW
"Bottled 2018. Shaded pale greenish tawny with a pale rim. Rich, tangy nose larded with rancio and masses of acidity. By now this wine doesn't actually taste all that sweet. We served it with a very rich cake with chocolate and marzipan but it would probably be better with hard cheese and walnuts. Starts with a hint of treacle toffee and is then very long and vibrant. Twangy (not a misprint for tangy) and very lively."
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.
