Portugal · Setúbal

José Maria da Fonseca

Family wine company in Azeitão since 1834, known for Periquita red and the fortified Moscatel de Setúbal.

The producer

José Maria da Fonseca has been making wine in Azeitão, on the Setúbal Peninsula south of Lisbon, since 1834. The family business has run across seven generations, with nearly 650 hectares of vineyards and a range of more than forty wines. The Periquita label, whose first bottle sold in 1850, is the estate's most visible product: a Castelão red aged in large old oak barrels, produced at more than 1.5 million bottles a year. Alambre Moscatel de Setúbal is the other signature, a fortified sweet wine carrying the aromatic Muscat character the peninsula has long been suited to.

Known for

Castelão reds and fortified Moscatel de Setúbal

Notable facts

The story

First bottle, 1850

When José Maria da Fonseca bottled and sold the first Periquita in 1850, the Portuguese wine trade ran almost entirely on bulk wine and Port. A labeled, bottled everyday red was not how wine was typically sold in the country at that point. The founder had arrived in Azeitão after studying mathematics at the University of Coimbra, a practical, quantitative training that seems to have shaped his approach to the market. The Periquita name outlasted the founder, the century, and six further generations of family management. More than 1.5 million bottles are still sold every year.

A president at the tank hall

On 14 September 2001, Dr. Jorge Sampaio, then President of the Republic of Portugal, attended the inauguration of the Fernando Soares Franco Winery in Azeitão. The building had been under construction since 1999: 9,000 square metres, 513 tanks, 6.5 million litres of combined capacity. It was a production facility, not a château. That a sitting head of state marked the opening says something about how large the Periquita name had grown since the first bottle left Azeitão in 1850.

From the atlas

José Maria da Fonseca

Portugal's oldest continuously operating family wine company, founded in 1834 in Azeitão on the Setúbal Peninsula, building nearly two centuries of production around Castelão reds and the fortified Moscatel de Setúbal.

At A Glance

CountryPortugal
RegionSetúbal Peninsula
VillageAzeitão
Main grapesCastelão, Moscatel de Setúbal
Signature winePeriquita, Alambre Moscatel de Setúbal
Defining featureFamily ownership across seven generations since 1834; first Periquita sold 1850

The Producer

José Maria da Fonseca has been making wine in Azeitão, a village on the Setúbal Peninsula south of Lisbon, since 1834. The family has remained in control across seven generations, and the portfolio today runs to more than forty wines, from everyday Castelão reds to the fortified Moscatel de Setúbal the peninsula has always been known for. Two things tie the range together: deep roots in one place, and the Periquita label, whose first bottle sold in 1850 and which still accounts for more than 1.5 million bottles a year.

The estate manages nearly 650 hectares of vineyards and operates out of a modern production facility built at the turn of this century. The scale is large, but the address has not changed: Azeitão, where the founder arrived after completing his studies in mathematics at the University of Coimbra.

Place

Azeitão sits on the Setúbal Peninsula between the Serra da Arrábida hills and the Sado estuary, south of Lisbon. The hills moderate the Atlantic influence enough to give the peninsula long, warm growing seasons while the estuary keeps temperatures from climbing too far. Those conditions do different things for different grapes: Castelão ripens into soft, ripe red fruit without the edge it can show in cooler zones, and Moscatel de Setúbal reaches the sugar levels that make fortification worthwhile, while the humidity along the lower slopes allows the Muscat varieties to develop aromatic intensity. Azeitão itself is the estate's permanent address, the place the founder chose in the 1830s and where the company has remained.

Story

José Maria da Fonseca arrived in Azeitão after graduating from the University of Coimbra with a degree in mathematics. His decision to set up a wine business in 1834 was, by any measure, a departure from that training. The more consequential choice came sixteen years later, in 1850, when the estate bottled and sold the first Periquita. At that moment, bottled still red wine from Portugal was a novelty; the trade ran on bulk and on Port. Periquita entered the market as something different: a labeled, bottled red made for everyday drinking, aged in large old oak barrels.

The brand did not stay small. By the time the seventh generation of the Soares Franco family was running the company, Periquita had grown into one of Portugal's most widely recognised labels. That scale created its own pressure: a range this large needed a production home capable of maintaining consistency across millions of bottles without flattening the wines. The family's answer was to build the Fernando Soares Franco Winery from scratch, beginning construction in 1999 and inaugurating it in 2001.

Vineyards And Cellar

The estate farms nearly 650 hectares of vineyards. Castelão is the main red variety, suited to the Setúbal Peninsula's warm, relatively dry conditions. Old oak barrels are the ageing vessel for Periquita, a deliberate choice that keeps the wine from picking up heavy new-oak character while allowing it to soften over time.

The Fernando Soares Franco Winery handles production across the range. Its 9,000 square metre facility runs 513 tanks with a combined capacity of 6.5 million litres, giving the estate the flexibility to ferment and hold wines from a large and varied portfolio. The company has made environmental practice a measurable part of its operation: it was the first wine company in Portugal to receive the ISO 14001 environmental certification, and later the first winery in Portugal to obtain the FAIR'N GREEN sustainability certification.

Wines

The range spans more than forty labels, but three bottles carry the most weight. Periquita Original is the everyday Castelão red, aged in large old oak barrels to a soft, approachable style and produced at more than 1.5 million bottles a year. Periquita Reserva steps up in concentration and depth, drawing on a selection of the estate's Castelão fruit for a more structured result. Alambre Moscatel de Setúbal is a fortified wine: grape spirit is added during fermentation to stop it while sugar remains, locking in the sweetness and the Muscat aromatic character, then the wine ages to develop its amber depth. The Setúbal appellation on the label is a specific designation for this style of fortified Moscatel, with rules distinct from the broader Setúbal Peninsula wines.

In The Glass

Periquita Original shows ripe red fruit, soft tannins and a gentle oak character from the large barrel ageing. The wine is built for early drinking, with enough texture to work with food but no hard edges. Periquita Reserva carries more concentration on the palate, the same red fruit frame but with more weight and a longer finish; the tannins are present but not rough. Alambre Moscatel de Setúbal moves into different territory: amber in colour, sweet and aromatic, with dried apricot, orange peel and a honeyed richness that develops from the Muscat varieties and the fortification process. The sweetness is full but balanced by the grape's natural aromatic intensity rather than by any residual sharpness.

A Bottle To Understand It

Periquita Original is a Castelão red from the Setúbal Peninsula, aged in large old oak barrels and bottled for everyday drinking, and it is the bottle with the longest story behind it. The wine is soft and direct, with ripe red fruit, gentle oak and a finish that does not demand attention but rewards it. What it demonstrates is not complexity but consistency: a labeled, bottled Portuguese red in a recognisable style, produced at a scale that few estates anywhere in Portugal have matched. Periquita Reserva is the natural follow-up for those interested in what the same grape achieves with more selective sourcing, but Original is the bottle with the longer story.

Anecdote

On 14 September 2001, the Fernando Soares Franco Winery was officially inaugurated in the presence of Dr. Jorge Sampaio, then President of the Republic. The building had taken two years to construct, covering 9,000 square metres with 513 tanks and a combined capacity of 6.5 million litres. A wine family that had been operating from Azeitão since 1834 had built one of the most technically equipped production facilities in the country. The president attended the opening of what was, in practical terms, a tank hall and a bottling line. That a head of state came at all is some measure of how large the Periquita name had grown by then.

Final Word

José Maria da Fonseca has been making wine in Azeitão since 1834, and the Periquita name has been on bottles since 1850. The estate's fortified Moscatel de Setúbal gives the range its most distinctive Portuguese character; the red wines give it its scale.

Sources

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