Sandra Tavares da Silva considers herself to be an “adopted daughter” of the Douro region for which she has a great passion. “I did in fact fall in love with the Douro region straight away on the first time I came here in 1999 as it is just fantastic with a huge potential” Sandra lives in Vale Mendiz on the Douro, at the headquarters of the company Wine & Soul which she runs with her, also oenologist, husband Jorge Serôdio Borges. She is also part of the oenology team at Quinta Vale Dona Maria.

Sandra is also connected to the Lisbon region through her family property, Quinta de Chocapalha. Her interest in the wine sector comes from her childhood which she spent here with her family: she used to tread the grapes in this farm in Alcochete. She then opted to take her degree in agronomic engineering in Lisbon, whilst modelling in some of the most famous fashion weeks in the world. She then voyaged to Italy, where she specialized in oenology, after which she returned to the Douro region in Portugal.

Wine & Soul’s wine have been very well received by both the national and international press, and so Sandra was full with pride when Pintas 2001 and Pintas 2003 “where considered the best wines from the Douro region, by the renowned wine critic Jancis Robinson in the Financial Times”.

“The wine which I most enjoyed making was probably the Pintas 2001, because making a wine solely with my husband was the realization of a dream”. Sandra dedicates herself to preserving the Wine & Soul project “The most important is to assure the consistency of our products and maybe, in a few years, after putting together a good team, we can go on to creating wines abroad, just for personal recreation”.

Even though it is tough and demanding, Sandra always tries to get the end consumer’s opinions and feedback: “I insist on always being present in wine tasting sessions with end consumers, not only to explain the wine and to have a greater proximity to the client, but also to understand what the end consumer is looking for and expecting of the wine and what his reaction is”.