The grapes are picked by hand at the optimal time, destemmed, crushed and converted into wine through a careful maceration process to extract their color, tannins and aromas, enhanced by constant churning during fermentation. This takes place in barrels (lagares) at a controlled temperature (between 28-30°C) until the right degree of sweetness (baumé) is achieved. At this point, grape brandy is added to obtain the final distillation wine. A high quality wine made by blending wines from different harvests to achieve the range of sensory qualities typical of these aged tawny port wines. These wines have each matured in oak barrels for different periods, with the average age of all wines in the blend determining the age on the label. The resulting blend expresses the characteristics of wood aging.