Quinta do Crasto has a history dating back to 1615, the year of the first records of wine production on the estate. In 1758, one of the 365 Pombaline milestones was installed at Quinta do Crasto, authorising farms to produce and commercialise fortified wines.
Over 150 years later, in 1923, after Constantino de Almeida’s death, his son, Fernando Moreira d’Almeida, took charge of the estate and continued producing the very high-quality Port wine that his father had started.
In 1981, Leonor Roquete and Jorge Roquete took over the majority of the capital and management of the property and began the project to produce DOC wines.
Today, Quinta do Crasto has over 180 hectares of vineyards, is visionary and continues to grow, remaining firm, sustainable and solid.
The quality and excellence of Quinta do Crasto
Quinta do Crasto is positioned in the market as a premium to super premium brand. It is a brand recognised for the quality and excellence of its wines and not for the quantities produced. Quinta do Crasto currently produces around 1,500,000 bottles a year and aims to reach 1,700,000 bottles by 2025.
Focussed on international growth and with a presence in 54 countries, Quinta do Crasto seeks to establish the image of its table wines around the world, just as it does with Port wine.
To facilitate the spread of its wines on the international market, Quinta do Crasto has joined the DouroBoys, a group of 5 producers who aim to represent and leverage the Douro Region on the international market.
A committed team
Although Quinta do Crasto’s team is made up of around 85 people, excluding subcontracted labour, Tiago Teles says that they have a very scarce and volatile workforce. This instability in human resources means that Quinta do Crasto has to invest heavily in regular training for its human resources, so that the homogenisation of processes and consequently the quality of the end product is guaranteed.
“During the harvest, which lasts about two months and during which we work 24 hours a day, there aren’t enough people and the contractors can’t have homogeneity in their resources, which means we have to constantly train new people.”
Eng. Tiago Teles
Quinta do Crasto is addressing the labour shortage head-on with a range of benefits for its employees. A key initiative is the partnership with Porto Business School, a mentoring partnership in management and strategic leadership. This is being rolled out across the board to its main assets: its human resources throughout its value chain.
“We value soft skills more than technical skills. You can acquire technical knowledge in the field, but soft skills are essential.”
Eng. Tiago Teles
It has been growing for more than 400 years
Quinta do Crasto Swimming Pool
As Quinta do Crasto is located in the Douro Demarcated Region, building alterations to the surrounding areas require a lot of restrictions, so we have two production support warehouses in Sabrosa and the Retiro Novo winery in São João da Pesqueira, where they vinify the grapes from Quinta da Cabreira in the Upper Douro.
“We must centralise processes, as these movements make the activity heavier.”
Eng. Tiago Teles
Eng. Tiago Teles
Mr Tiago Teles has a degree in Food Science and a Master’s degree in Biotechnology and Food Quality. He has worked in the quality/production area for several years and has been Head of the Quality and Safety Department at Quinta do Crasto for five years.
Mr Teles found adapting to the working environment the biggest challenge, as the industries where he had previously worked were totally different.
“At Quinta do Crasto we’re not a number, we’re an asset with a name and all its virtues and defects. It was necessary to absorb this philosophy, to analyse and introspect in order to gain the trust of the people we work with to pass on the technical knowledge.”
Eng. Tiago Teles
Meticulous viticulture
The largest quantity of grapes that Quinta do Crasto has ever received was approximately 2,300 tonnes. Last year, it received approximately 1,500 tonnes of grapes, 80% of which are destined for red wine production and the remaining 20% for white wine production.
Quinta do Crasto has its own vineyards, but has to buy grapes from third parties and operate other farms. To guarantee the quality of the grapes produced by its partners, Quinta do Crasto closely monitors the ripeness of the grapes and defines the ideal cutting period.
The wines of Quinta do Crasto
Quinta do Crasto Winery
Quinta do Crasto has a diverse portfolio of wines, from Port to DOC wines.
One of its oldest wines is Vinho Reserva Vinhas Velhas and the most emblematic are Vinho Maria Teresa and Vinho Vinha da Ponte.
Quinta do Crasto’s new benchmark is Altitude Wine. This wine has a more youthful profile and is aimed at a younger age group, between 30 and 40.
Quinta do Crasto has been a Barcelbal client since 2010
Quinta do Crasto has been a Barcelbal customer for 12 years. The partnership began with the upgrading of the weighbridge for lorries. Since 2010, Barcelbal technicians have been visiting Quinta do Crasto every year to carry out the periodic check-up service and to confirm that the weighing equipment is in perfect working order for the start of the campaign.
“Of course I’m happy. So if they give me some discounts, I’ll be even happier! Barcelbal is a fundamental partner for Quinta do Crasto, especially during the grape harvest, as the weighbridge is a vital piece of equipment during this period. When it comes to weighbridges, there’s no doubt about it!”
Eng. Tiago Teles
Sustainability and wine production
Landscape over the River Douro from Quinta do Crasto
Climate change is a challenge for wine-producing estates in the Douro Demarcated Region, as it is a very restricted and deprived region in terms of water availability and utilisation.
“It’s all very difficult here! Quinta do Crasto has invested in a water collection and treatment system to be able to use river water in the production process.”
Eng. Tiago Teles
As well as reducing water consumption, Quinta do Crasto is also concerned with reducing plastic, cardboard and bottle weights.
“We can’t make these kinds of changes from one moment to the next. For example, our bottle supplier finds it more difficult to homogenise the production process for a bottle with a lower grammage. A bottle in which the weight is reduced from 470 g to 390 g will be thinner and, consequently, any defects in the glass will be more noticeable.”
Eng. Tiago Teles
Quinta do Crasto’s success is our success!
