THE FAMILY

HISTORY

The history of Periquita is interwoven with the story of José Maria da Fonseca itself, beginning in the 1820s when the founding father of the company, José Maria da Fonseca arrived in Lisbon and bought several local properties. One such purchase, most probably in 1840’s, was Cova da Periquita. It was on that property that José Maria da Fonseca planted red grapes of the Castelão variety, which he brought most probably from the region of Estremadura. Although, we are not sure when the first vintage was produced. We are certain that by 1850 Periquita red already existed, as mentioned on Mr Fonseca records.

José Maria da Fonseca registered the Periquita trademark in 1941. For this reason, Periquita brand is the oldest commercialized table wine having, over time, acquired a growing popularity in Portugal and a considerable reputation in markets such as Sweden, Brazil, United States of America , Canada, Denmark and Norway. The White Periquita was first released in the 2004 harvest, the Swedish market and in Brazil in the 2005 harvest. In Portugal this wine was released with the 2006 harvest.

José Maria da Fonseca is the oldest and one of the most prestigious wineries in Portugal, producing wines, Port and Setubal Moscatel. The Soares Franco family owns José Maria da Fonseca and has been involved in the wine business for almost 200 years. With over 650 hectares of land under vine in our main wine regions: Península de Setúbal, Alentejo and Douro, José Maria Fonseca also boasts Portugal’s largest winery, with capacity to produce 6.5 million litres of wine in a totally computerised operation.