SANDEMAN

The Sandeman was tasted from a finished pre-bottling sample, but already it is shaping up to be one of the finest releases from the “man in black.” It is a blend of 40% Touriga Naçional, 40% Touriga Franca, 10% Tinta Roriz, 5% Sousao and 5% Tinta Cao sourced mainly from Quinta do Vau and Quinta do Seixo. It has a very pure bouquet, the Touriga Naçional the most expressive, with crème de cassis, kirsch, blueberry jam and marmalade that is well-defined and very sensual. The palate is medium-bodied with very good structure – real backbone here and very precise tannins. There is great focus and poise, with plenty of red berry fruit intermingling with white pepper and rosemary towards the long finish. This is very satisfying. Rating: 92-94 Neal Martin, www.vinous.com (May 2013)

Very bright purple. Very flattering, rather 'smudgy', comfortable and comforting nose. Sinewy underneath and the structure and schist soon asserts itself above the undoubted fruit. Exciting stuff. Clearly a lot of effort has gone into this. A long-term prospect but flashy enough to enjoy relatively young. Rating: 17.5 Jancis Robinson OBE MW - www.JancisRobinson.com (May 2013)

HEAD WINEMAKER: Luís Sottomayor. VARIETIES: 40% Touriga Franca, 40% Touriga Nacional, 10% Tinta Roriz, 5% Tinto Cão, 5% Sousão WINEMAKING Gentle crushing and partial de-stemming of the perfectly ripened fruit was followed by a very intense period of maceration with the alcoholic fermentation. To achieve the optimum skin extraction that delivers the colour, flavour, tannin components for a Vintage Port, the grapes were pressed in the granite "lagares" at controlled temperatures of 28ºC. During this phase the temperature, fermentation and density of each grape variety, allowing for individual ripeness and sugar levels, were carefully monitored to determine the addition of the aguardente (neutral grape alcohol at 77%) to arrest fermentation and fortify the wine. MATURATION In keeping with Port wine tradition, this wine remained in the Douro Region, at Quinta do Seixo, until the following spring, when it was transported to Sandeman's cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia for maturation in "balseiros". The final blend was assembled after a rigorous and lengthy qualitative process based on many, many tastings. In the tradition of Vintage Port, the Sandeman 2011 Vintage Port was bottled in April 2013 without finning or filtration and therefore is likely to throw a deposit and will require decanting. TECHNICAL DETAILS Alcohol: 21% | Total Acidity: 5,42 g/l (tartaric acid) | Sugar: 106 g/l | pH: 3,54 | 15,000 bottlesWinemaker's notes (May 2013)