Sandeman is a brand of Port and Sherry wines founded in 1790. Its well known logo features a caped man known as "The Don" dressed in a Portuguese student's cape and a wide traditional Andalusian type hat.[1][2] Besides Port and Sherry wines, it also produces Brandy and Madeira wine.[3]
History
Brothers George and David Sandeman from Perth founded the company[4][5] in 1790 with £300.[2][5] David, more interested in banking than vintnering, left the company in 1798 to found the Commercial Bank of Scotland leaving George in sole charge.[4]
In 1953, Sandeman bought the port company Robertson Brothers.[6][7]
Initially passed to his nephew, George Glas Sandeman,[8] Sandeman remained a family business until bought out by the drinks company Seagram in 1979.[9] In 2001 the operation was sold to Sogrape by Diageo and Pernod Ricard who had acquired it from Seagram.[10] A descendant, George Thomas David Sandeman is a member of the board of Sogrape Vinhos S.A.[8]
Sandeman family
The founder George Sandeman, whose father was also George, was descended from the marriage of David Sandeman to Margret Ramsey in 1716, whose offspring included a notable Glasite theologian Robert Sandeman and the Perthshire linen manufacturer William Sandeman.[2] Family descendants remained owners of the wine business until 1993.[9] In the nineteenth century the family became associated with Hayling Island coming to live at Westfield House in West Town, Hayling Island and with a family grave in St. Mary's Church.[11] The Hayling Golf Club was founded by Fleetwood Sandeman in 1883.[12]
Lea & Sandeman
Lea & Sandeman is an independent wine merchant formed by Patrick Sandeman and Charles Lea in 1993. Patrick was a member of the Sandeman family who had initially worked for Seagram. He died in a skydiving accident in 2012 and his wife Katie succeeded him as a director.[9][13]
See also
- Albert George Sandeman – Chairman of company and former Governor of the Bank of England
External links
References
- Welcome to the House of Sandeman retrieved 9 September 2016^
- Charles Sellers. Oporto, Old and New: Being a Historical Record of the Port Wine Trade, and a Tribute to British Commercial Enterprize in the North of Portu HardPress Publishing, 28 January 2013^
- Welcome to the House of Sandeman retrieved 9 September 2016^
- Julian Jeffs. Sherry Mitchell Beazley, 2004, retrieved 8 November 2025^
- Charles Ludington. The Politics of Wine in Britain: A New Cultural History Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, retrieved 8 November 2025^
- Vintageport.se, Vintage Port - Robertson Brothers www.vintageport.se, retrieved 2023-05-16^
- Index of Trademarks Issued from the United States Patent and Trademark Office The Office, 1953^
- Sandeman Vintage Port(Sweden), retrieved 15 April 2017^
- Victoria Moore. A farewell glass of red wine to Patrick Sandeman - a man who loved life Daily Telegraph, 28 September 2012, retrieved 14 April 2017^
- Damian Reece. Sogrape lines up Sandeman buy Daily Telegraph, 29 July 2001, retrieved 14 April 2017^
- A Guide to Hayling Island - Its Attractions History & Legends^
- Club History www.haylinggolf.co.uk, retrieved 2018-07-26^
- Katie Sandeman appointed Director of Lea & Sandeman 15 November 2012, retrieved 14 April 2017^