| Since 1751, the Ferreira name has always been synonymous with high-quality Portuguese wine. The brand’s history is intertwined with the history of the evolution of the Douro Region (demarcated in 1756) and its Porto and table wines (Douro DOC). The Ferreira family patriarch - who already owned vineyards that subsequently became a part of the Douro Specified Region - started his business in the mid eighteenth century. However, the company’s foundations stem from the actions of his grandsons, Jose Bernardo and Antonio Bernardo in the early nineteenth century, when they added considerably to the land they had inherited. The marriage between their offspring, cousins Antonio Bernardo II and Antonia Adelaide, would, in the next generation, consolidate a unique heritage and indelibly mark Ferreira’s future. Twice widowed, Dona Antonia did not merely manage an inheritance. She took over the business at 33, strengthening and expanding it thanks to her entrepreneurial spirit and charisma. She is still remembered in Portugal for her sound business ethics and as an example of good practice. Endowed with exceptional energy and a rare commercial talent, she gave great impetus to wine-growing in Douro and was well-known for her acts of social welfare in the region. Her intelligence and kindness earned her the warm admiration of her contemporaries, who affectionately nicknamed her ”Ferreirinha” (little Ferreira). After she died, the business became a limited company and began a new phase of adjusting and expanding to meet the needs of the times. Maintaining its core values - rooted in quality with its unique collection of estates in the Douro, the company has always supported the best nological methods to produce excellent wines under one strong brand. These values have carried Ferreira into the 21st century and were instrumental in creating wines such as the legendary Barca Velha in the 1950’s. Acquiring Ferreira in 1987 allowed Sogrape Vinhos to immediately assume leadership of the Portuguese Porto wine market. In addition this acquisition enhanced its portfolio with some of the most prestigious Douro table wine brands and enriched its assets with a collection of the most important properties of the Douro Specified Region, such as the Leda, Porto and Caedo estates. Sogrape Vinhos was then able to preserve and enhance Ferreira’s material, historic and cultural heritage: the bond between production and trade, the understanding of tradition in order to modernise, the emphasis on quality as the mainstay of the brand’s prestige. Today, more than 250 years later, Ferreira is ”the Portuguese brand”, the benchmark in excellent quality Porto and Douro wines, the symbol of a country and a culture it proudly honours. |
