It is not one of the best-known brands, but among connoisseurs and lovers of Port wine, Krohn, formerly Wiese & Krohn, born in 1865, has always been considered the house to look for when it comes to tawnies harvest — Ports ‘brown’ by oxidation that to madeira makes it easier, they come from a single harvest and are aged for a minimum of seven years in casco. It has fantastic vintages, it’s true, from years that often don’t exist in other companies’ portfolios. And in a style that is always very sober and balancedno sugar bombs. But isn’t it that his birthplace, in Sarzedinho, Ervedosa do Douro, also gives rise to vintages superb?
The winemaking team at Winestone, holding of the José de Mello group created a year ago for the wine sector, I wanted to show this in a tasting held a few days ago at Quinta do Retiro Novo, where the group prepares new investments. Located in the Rio Torto valley, the property that gives rise to Portos da Krohn is in one of the two special sites in the Douro wine region for the production of vintages — Ports are normally bottled two years after harvest and aged in bottles — and cherished for this reason by the great Port wine houses. The other is the Pinhão valley. But it is not known for that category.
That’s why we were surprised to meet superb vintages from the house like or up 1970, very delicate and with immense freshness, and the extraordinary 1960, whose aromatic breadth makes our head spin. Thinking, appreciating, pulling at our olfactory memories. One is 54 years old and the other is 64! Absolutely fabulous on their way to old age. Hopefully many (of us, too). The ideal of both worlds was this nose amazing look of the 60’s, with the mouth of the 70’s, very marked by acidity vibrant wine. A steady note at five vintages that we tasted (in addition to the 1960 and 1970, the 2003, the 2017 — all with stocks in stock at Krohn — and the 2022, the latter a cask sample but already approved by the Douro and Porto Wine Institute), and surprisingly, it is the clear identification of a more seco — we always talk about sweet wines, be careful, but with a sweetness very well balanced by acidity, which doesn’t make you sick.
David Baverstock, who heads winemaking at WineStone, believes in the potential of Bom Retiro, the birthplace of Krohn Ports, to make “great vintages”
Nelson Garrido
On the recommendation of David Baverstock, who leads Winestone’s winemaking team, we tasted them from youngest to oldest. The 2022 shows ripe fruit, intense perfume and a nose elegant. It will not last 50 years in the bottle, says the experienced technician who in recent years has dedicated himself to vineyards further south, but who 40 years ago made his debut in Portugal with the Symington group, having worked precisely there in the Côa valley. But it will be very good in 15, 20, 25 years. We managed to understand it. Tannin, fruit, immense freshness, 90 grams of sugar per liter. An elegant profile and a vintage on the ‘drier’ side of Port wine.
The 2017 (70 euros) is now starting to ‘marry’, as they say in Port wine slang. Which is as if to say: the whole now appears more harmonious, also making it easier to imagine wine in the future — and the vintages These are wines of patience, to buy when they come out on the market and open later. It is a Port that confirms the potential that WineStone saw in Quinta do Retiro Novo. The vineyards on the property, previously owned by the Fladgate Partnership (Taylor’s, Fonseca and Croft), can not only produce Ports vintageas they can produce large vintages.
This Krohn Vintage 2017 smells of red fruit and the year it was born. We notice the heat of a dry year (but, despite this, balanced) and, at the same time, a lot of freshness. This is a Port to celebrate four or five decades in great shape. Everything is in place.
Until 2003 (90 euros), we identified the same profile, marked by one side herbaceous which accentuates the sensation of freshness of these wines. Another dry, hot year, “a classic year”, which produced a wine that tasted today still has fruit (more ripe, raisins…), but also notes of varnish — tertiary aromas that come from the aging in bottle —, tannin and acidity that will keep it in a good place for longer. Very balanced, it is at a good time to open, very balanced, beautiful, and in about ten years it will enter a more stable phase.
Absolutely fabulous 1970 (340 euros). From “a super classic year” (“there’s no talk, 1970 was one of the best years of all”, notes David Baverstock, it is a wine of great aromatic complexity, with aromas of evolution in the bottle, anise, licorice, an almost medicinal nose , with great freshness and end of mouth that tastes like coffee candy. “One vintage from the other world.” Yes, sir. And, after half a century of life, he still has a lot of energy.
The 1960s gave the bottle more opulent Ports, with a lot of concentration. Despite this, this Krohn Vintage 1960 (420 euros), mature and spacious as is the hallmark of vintage Since then, it also surprises with its drier profile. Intoxicating on the nose, awakening a thousand and one memories — dried leaves, pharmacy, eucalyptus, pine bark, curry… —, in the mouth it is less vibrant than the Krohn Vintage 1970. Overall, a tremendous wine.
WineStone announced the purchase of Quinta do Retiro Novo about a year ago. With the property, the holding for wine from the José de Mello Group, it also acquired the Krohn brand and its stockshaving ‘inherited’ stocks from Portos vintage and harvesting since 1931. vintages 1960s and 1970s, there are few bottles, but they still exist. This year, Krohn’s Ports have already been made by the Baverstock team (in Douro, the main responsible is winemaker Mafalda Bahia Machado) and in the final stretch of this harvest in Douro it became known that WineStone is preparing to launch a new image for the historic mark.
Name Krohn Porto Vintage 2017
Producer WineStone
Castes Touriga Nacional, Touriga Francesa, Tinto Cão, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca
Region Douro
Alcoholic degree 20,2%
Price (euros) 70 (recommended PVP)
Score 96
Author Ana Isabel Pereira
Tasting notes Red and black fruits, but also notes of stone fruits and floral notes, in an aromatic profile marked by the dry year in which the wine was born. You feel that heat in it, but this Krohn Vintage 2017 simultaneously offers a lot of freshness. It is a Port that will last four or five decades in great shape. Beautiful acidity, elegance, wild fruit flavors, ‘only’ 102 grams of sugar per liter and a long mouthfeel. A vintage that confirms the potential that WineStone saw in Quinta do Retiro Novo (not only, but also) to produce great Ports of special categories.
Name Krohn Porto Vintage 2003
Producer WineStone
Castes Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca
Region Douro
Alcoholic degree 20,1%
Price (euros) 90 (recommended PVP)
Score 95
Author Ana Isabel Pereira
Tasting notes Ripe fruit, concentration, body, good acidity and balanced and ripe tannins, promising a long life for the wine. Sweet (94 grams of sugar per liter) and long finish. A vintage that is still in its youth, but already offers a good experience and is, moreover, a good test to understand, on the one hand, the style of the house when it comes to Vintage Port and, on the other, to see where it is heading. wine, which in about ten years will enter a more stable phase.
Name Krohn Porto Vintage 1970
Producer WineStone
Castes Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca
Region Douro
Alcoholic degree 21,1%
Price (euros) 340 (recommended PVP)
Score 97
Author Ana Isabel Pereira
Tasting notes This Krohn Vintage 1970 from a super classic year is super complex. On the nose, it offers aromas of dried fruits, anise, licorice, almost medicinal. And in the mouth, a great freshness, which lasts for long seconds after drinking, in an impressive finish, spicy and with the flavor of coffee candy. It has a little more residual sugar than other vintages we tasted from Krohn (115.8 g/l), but it has the same sober, ‘drier’ style that we identify in the house’s vintages. A miracle wine, because it has passed the age of 50 and is, in fact, a “vintage from another world”, as David Baverstock called it. Ready to drink and enjoy.
Name Krohn Porto Vintage 1960
Producer WineStone
Castes Touriga Nacional, Tinto Cão, Touriga Francesa, Tinta Roriz and Tinta Barroca
Region Douro
Alcoholic degree 21%
Price (euros) 420 (recommended PVP)
Score 98
Author Ana Isabel Pereira
Tasting notes There is so much going on in terms of the olfactory experience that this Krohn Vintage 1960 provides, that smelling it is half the proof. We play. But, in fact, this is an aromatically complex Port, with notes of dried leaves, pharmacy, eucalyptus, pine forest… even curry! With an incredible nose, in the mouth, its lightness and coffee notes that we feel in the finish stand out. Broad and mature vintage, as is the mark of vintages from the 1960s, very balanced. Tremendous.
