In 1942, Fernando van Zeller Guedes and partners, founded “Sociedade Comercial dos Grandes Vinhos de Mesa de Portugal” ( now known as SOGRAPE Vinhos S.A.) and created what would eventually become the most famous Portuguese table wine – MATEUS ROSÉ. Sogrape’s ambition was for Portuguese wines to be known all over the world, with three main criteria: the quality of the wines, the importance of brands and the presentation of its wines. The first example of Fernando van Zeller Guedes’s vision was the squat and unusual bottle created for MATEUS, inspired by the World War I soldiers’ flask. This business acumen was ahead of its time and is now recognised as a company strategy with no equal in business in general and in the wine sector in particular. Due, to a large extent, to the success of MATEUS, a true commercial phenomenon, SOGRAPE has been able to fulfil its strategic aims of diversification and investment in Portugal, as well as in Argentina and Spain.