Producer Douro, Portugal
Ferreira
Ferreira is one of the oldest Port houses still trading, founded in 1751 at a time when the trade was dominated almost entirely by British shippers. The name that transformed it was Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira, a nineteenth-century businesswoman who expanded the company's vineyard holdings across the Douro, fought to improve conditions for the valley's workers during the phylloxera crisis, and built a legacy that Porto is honouring by naming a new bridge over the Douro after her.
The house is known for Tawny Port in particular, including aged Tawny bottlings named in her honour. Tawny of this quality is one of the more underrated pleasures in wine: gentle, nutty, amber-coloured, with roasted fruit and a long finish that rewards slightly chilled serving in warmer months.
