#66 Wine Spectator Top 100 (2000 edition - 1997 vintage)
96-Points by the Wine Enthusiast & Robert Parker. 
The NV 40 Years Old Tawny Porto is a typical Douro blend composed of juice ranging from 30 to 55 years in age to achieve an average age of 40 years. This wine confirms Sandeman’s reputation for aged tawnies. Intensely perfumed and hugely concentrated, it is a wine for contemplation and sipping. Almonds, walnuts, dried fruit and aged honey flavors all come together in this astonishing Port. Ready to drink, it is totally memorable.
 
Sandeman is a Port producer based in the Vila Nova de Gaia in Porto. It makes a wide variety of Ports, ranging from Ruby and Tawny to a whole host of vintage expressions. 
The house was founded in 1790 by George Sandeman, who started out selling Port and Sherry in London before relocating to Portugal in 1811. Today, the house is run by the seventh-generation George Sandeman, who worked in Porto and Jerez before joining the company in 1977.
The cellars remain at their original location in Vila Nova de Gaia, the traditional home of most of the big Port houses (Dow's, Graham's and Taylor's are all based here). The area's temperate maritime climate helps age the ports slowly before they are shipped around the world. The cellar floors are a mixture of oak and soil to help maintain the temperature and humidity, and also provides an easy surface on which to roll barrels around. Sandeman's vineyards are located in the Douro Valley. In the winery, Sandeman also produce multiple styles of Sherry and Madeira.
In the late 19th Century, Sandeman acquired a Sherry bodegas in Spain which significantly expanded the portfolio of the company.