It was two young Norwegian cousins – Theodor Wiese and Dankert Krohn – that set up Wiese & Krohn in 1865. Since its early days the company has built up a strong reputation for the cask-aged ports produced at its Quinta do Retiro Novo estate – where it also holds reserves of some rare wines from the 19th century.
This flagship estate is in Sarzedinho in the Rio Torto valley, an area that is particularly suitable for port grapes thanks to its soil, altitude and the aspect of the sloping vineyards. The vinification plant here creates wines (both Port wines and Douro wines) from the grapes grown here and those bought in from neighbouring estates.
Only the very best grapes are used here, and a careful eye on all aspects of growing and production has led to Quinta do Retiro Novo being officially designated a ‘class A’ property for port production.
Wiese & Krohn’s winemaking process fuses the traditional with the contemporary – it still maintains the old lagares (granite tanks of around 75cm tall) that are traditionally used for crushing grapes underfoot, but has also installed modern stainless steel versions that simulate the human grape treading process.
