José Maria da Fonseca, also known as JM da Fonseca, is the oldest

table wine Table wine (rarely abbreviated TW) is a wine term with two different meanings: a style of wine and a quality level within wine classification. In the United States, the term primarily designates a wine style: an ordinary wine which is not fort ...

company in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

, though some

port wine Port wine (, ; ), or simply port, is a Portuguese wine, Portuguese fortified wine produced in the Douro, Douro Valley of Norte, Portugal, northern Portugal. It is typically a sweetness of wine, sweet red wine, often served with dessert wine, ...

houses pre-date it. The family-owned company was founded in 1834 and is based in the village of Azeitão on the Setúbal Peninsula. It is now in its 7th generation and most of its production is exported internationally. Among its best known wine brands are ''Periquita'' and '' Lancers''.

History

José Maria da Fonseca started the business in 1834, and the family has maintained it since then. In addition to its vineyards on the Setúbal peninsula, the company operates a number of vineyards in the

Alentejo Alentejo ( , , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond the Tagus" (). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo Province, Alto Alentejo and Bai ...

and Douro Valley regions. The company's winery based in the Alentejo town of Reguengos de Monsaraz, uses the ancient

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

tradition of fermenting wine in clay pots along with modern technology.

Brands

The company introduced its ''Periquita'' wine brand in 1850. The brand was initially produced from the Castelão variety of grape at one of the company's estates, Cova da Periquita. Unusual for the time, Periquita wine was bottled rather than sold in bulk. It went on to gain international recognition and by 2016 over 1.5 million bottles of the brand were being produced. A related brand of aged wine, ''Periquita Reserva'', was introduced in the early 2010s. The ''Lancers'' wine brand, a

rosé A rosé () is a type of wine that incorporates some of the wine color, color from the grape skins, but not enough to qualify it as a red wine. It may be the oldest known type of wine, as it is the most straightforward to make with the Macerati ...

, was introduced by JM da Fonseca in the United States in 1944. The company was looking to capitalize on wine drinking habits American soldiers had developed in Europe during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. JM da Fonseca sells Moscatel de Setúbal wine under the ''Alambre'' brand.

References

External links

* (in Portuguese)
Official website
(in English) Food and drink companies established in 1834 Wineries of Portugal Portuguese brands 1834 establishments in Portugal {{Portugal-stub