Andresen J.H.

A smaller, lesser known Port producer, Andresen was founded by Jann Hinrich Andresen in 1845 when he was only 19-years-old. He was born on the Friesian Islands (Föhr) but left at the age of 14 to set sail for Porto. When the Friesian Islands were annexed by Germany in 1854, Andresen gained Portuguese citizenship. Afterwards, his heirs ran the business, but in 1942, confronted with the economic crisis of World War II, the family was forced to put it up for sale. An interested buyer and a prominent figure in the Port business, Albino Pereira dos Santos, bought Andresen. The property was passed down to his son, Mário Ruy Flores dos Santos in 1962. Today, the company remains one of the few purely family-owned Port Houses. Each wine is produced from 40 hectares of quality vineyards and vinified at Quinta das Aranhas, found in the center of the Douro region.