Intense ruby red in colour. The nose is bursting with aromas of ripe and juicy red and black fruits. On the palate, the sweetness and the grippy tannins are balanced by a refreshing acidity which carries the flavours of ripe strawberry, blackberry and blackcurrant onto the lingering finish.
Upon arrival at the winery, the hand-picked grapes were destemmed and crushed before fermentation at controlled temperatures, with a vigorous maceration on the skins and frequent punch downs to extract tannin, a deep ruby colour and plenty of flavour from the grapes.
The ferment was closely monitored to determine the ideal moment to halt the fermentation by fortifying with grape spirit, leaving some of the grapes’ natural sugars.
The wines remained in the Douro until the spring following the harvest, when they were transported downstream to the Sandeman lodge in Vila Nova de Gaia for ageing in large oak casks.
They prepare the final blend to retain Sandeman Founders Reserve's characteristic style. The wines selected are usually between three and five years old, resulting in a Port with an average age of four years.
The Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Amarela, Tinta Barrica and Tinto Cão grapes that make up the Sandeman Founder's Reserve blend are sourced from vineyard sites across the Douro Valley - the largest mountainous vineyard area on earth. The vines are planted on steep terraces which slope down to the Douro river. Soils are composed predominantly of schist – a dense, slate-like metamorphic rock
Once they have reached optimum levels of ripeness, the grapes are carefully harvested by hand.
There are few more iconic images in the world of wine than the ‘Don’, the logo created for the Sandeman family in 1928 by George Massiot Brown. The cape was modelled on the attire worn by university students in Porto, while the wide-brimmed hat was a nod to the family’s presence in Jerez. Today, the wines are good enough to be every bit as famous as the image of the Don. Since Sogrape bought Sandeman in 2002, the major improvements and investment that have taken place in the vineyards and the winemaking has seen the wines rise to the top of the tree in Port.