José Maria da Fonseca

José Maria da Fonseca is a world-renowned Portuguese winery in Setúbal 

Joé Maria de Fonseca - traditional winery in the seventh generation

The family business with its headquarters in Azeitão stands for highest quality. The traditional house was founded in 1834 and is especially known and very popular for its excellent dessert wines. Since the middle of the 19th century, the top wines with controlled designation of origin DOC Península de Setúbal have been produced as well. This traditionally includes, for example, the noble sweet Muscat, which ranks third behind other Portuguese dessert wines.

Excellent growing conditions at Fonseca 

The José Maria da Fonseca winery is already headed by the seventh generation. The whitewashed estate is adorned with the magnificent blue and white azulejos (tiles) famous for Portugal. Here you can also see the famous Moscatel barrels. The grapes come from the 650-hectare estate, which is farmed by about 200 employees. The grapes grow in the wine region around Azeitão as well as in three other areas in the north and east of the country. On soils containing large amounts of lime, sand and clay, the vines thrive excellently, no matter in which location. Added to this is the fresh maritime climate of the Atlantic, as well as very humid air from the Tagus estuary. Together they form ideal growing conditions for the high-quality grapes. 

Dessert wine is not the only export hit

Under the direction of cellar master Domingos Soares Franco Today, José Maria da Fonseca produces, in addition to dessert wines, mainly modern dry white and rosé wines as well as great full-bodied red wines. The winery's most important and oldest brand is Periquita, which has been around since 1850. It is still foot-mashed today and stays in wood for 14 months. Other brands are Lancer, Alambre, Moscatel de Setúbal and Branco Seco Especial. In total, about 12 million bottles are produced. 80 percent of the wines produced are exported to no less than 70 countries. The winery celebrated the 200th birthday of its founder with the"Hexagon" (hexagon). It was produced by the sixth generation and consists of six great grape varieties. Portugal's most important wine guide, the "Guía Martins", rates it with 7 out of 8 possible points.

And these are the grape varieties at the winery José Maria da Fonseca:

• Alicante Bouschet
• Aragonez
• Shiraz
• Trincadeira Preta
• Touriga Franca 
• Touriga Nacional
• Castelão 
• Muscat