Lancaster House is proud to serve the Sandeman range, so much so it’s bar in names after the famous family, The Sandemans Bar.
The principles of Sandeman port production have remained almost unchanged from those employed by George Sandeman in the 1790s. We take a look at how our favourite port is made…
A small selection of the Lancaster House Sandeman Collection
The defined grape-growing region of the Douro Valley extends from 60 miles up river from Oporto to within a few miles of the Spanish border, covering an area of 1,500 square miles.
Vineyard hills in the river Douro valley, Portugal
Terraced vineyards in Douro Valley, Alto Douro Wine Region in northern Portugal, officially designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Site
Pruning grapes by hand
Since the introduction of hydro-electric power in the 1960s, machine crushers have replaced the traditional method of treading the grapes by foot.
The men, with their white pants rolled up to the mid-thigh, step into the lagar and form a line with their arms resting on each other’s shoulders. Measured steps taken at the word of command ‘right’, ‘left’ allow the juice to exude and the grapes become pulp. A livelier movement follows and a fiddler, seated on the edge of the lagar, plays a merry tune, while some of the treaders join in with fife, drum and guitar.
Nowadays once the machines have crushed the pulp it is pumped into stainless steel fermentation tanks. As fermentation occurs, sugar levels are constantly checked and when they reach 6 degree to 8 degrees on the Baume scale the ‘must’ is ready for its union with grape spirit Aguardente (literally ‘firewater’), a colourless, neutral spirit of 77 per cent alcohol. Wine and spirit are mixed four to one as has been customary for at least two centuries. A ‘pipe’ of port is made up of 440 litres of wine and 110 of aguardente. It is a crucial part of the process that the semi-fermented must and the spirit are run simultaneously into the storage vat in order to avoid ‘burn’.
From delivery of the grapes to the blending of the spirit takes just three to four days. Throughout the few weeks of the vintage, lorries arrive from the many supplying farms with the loads of grapes that keep the process going day and night. The newly made wine stays in its vats until the New Year.
Everything at the Sandeman Port Winery reflects the Sandeman Don logo (CC 2.0 / Kenneth Fairfax)
Sandeman Port Winery and Classical Facades – Gaia District – Porto, Portugal (CC 2.0 / Adam Jones)
At Lancaster House you can enjoy our range of Sandeman’s ports by the glass or in a selcetion of Sandeman’s cocktails.
The Sandaman’s Bar at Lancaster House – Can you spot the iconic “Don”?