Quinta do Seixo

The black caped and sombrero wearing silhouette is the trademark of Sandeman who produce port wine at their Quinta do Seixo along the Duoro.  Quinta means estate, and Seixo (pronounced Say-je-o) means pebble or rock.

Many of the big port producers are headquartered in the United Kingdom owing to the fact that the Brits have long been big fans of red wine.  However theyy were often at war with the French - their main supplier of vin rouge.  Supplies of French wine had a tendency to dwindle during these quarrelsome periods so alternatives needed to be found.  Portuguese wine did not travel well so a method was devised to stop the fermentation process earlier which resulted in a sweeter and heavier wine that traveled well to the UK.  And so was born Port, with many familiar Anglophone family names appearing on bottles world wide.  Taylors Fladgate, Graham and Offley come to mind; Sandeman is owned by Scots.