The house of Ferreira

• By Daphne Caruana Galizia

The Ferreiras da Regua family began their vine-growing and wine-making business in 1751, but the true prime mover behind the growth of their activities in the port trade was one Dona Antónia Adelaîde Ferreira (1811-1896), a charismatic and forceful woman who went on to become something of an icon in the region. She was extremely wealthy but she also worked very hard, and for good measure, she married her cousin – an only child like she was - and consolidated the inheritance of the estates. Widowed early, she headed the business through most of the second half of the 19th century, clearing all debts and then expanding it enormously. She invested heavily to modernize practices and to build up the quality of her wines. She was one of the great entrepreneurs of her age, an exceptional woman in an age when women were supposed to hold back from public life and business. The people of the Douro nicknamed her Ferreirinha, and she achieved quasi-mythical status in her concern for the well-being of those who worked for her. The powerful, on the other hand, respected her for her abilities and achievements.

The results of her hard work and enterprise are evident in the extensive and beautiful estates owned by Ferreira in the Douro region. The house in which Dona Antónia lived, in a stunning setting high above the river and with vineyard spreading for miles around, has been restored, and is used for hospitality for guests of the company.

In 1987, Ferreira was acquired by Sogrape, Portugal's leading family-owned fine wine company. The Ferreira brand, which is strong in Portugal, has achieved since a much higher profile on the international market.

This is a classic white port, with an appealing yellow-straw hue and a fresh but intense aroma, with attractive floral and fruit tones. It is soft and very well balanced in the mouth, a rich full wine with added complexity from ageing in wood. Serve it chilled as an aperitif, on its own or with dried fruit and toasted almonds. Ferreira white is bottled ready for drinking and will not improve if kept for a long time. The bottle should be kept upright, protected from direct light and excessive humidity at a constant temperature of about 16C. It does not require decanting, and maintains its freshness for up to four weeks after the bottle is opened. Ferreira white is produced from a strict selection of traditional wine grape varieties – malvasia fina, codega, rabigato, and gouveio, among others – grown in high stretches of the best vineyards of the Douro region, in places where fine maturing with a well-balanced acidity is obtained. It is made using the traditional method. The wine stays in the Douro through the winter, and is moved to the Ferreira lodge in the spring, then aged in oak cases for several years.

In Porto and Paris (where white port has long been popular), the fashionable aperitif is chilled white port mixed with Schweppes tonic and perhaps a chunk of ice. It's delicious, but you'll be hard pressed to find white port in any bar or restaurant in Malta. We’ve tried. Your best bet would be to buy your own bottle, keep it in the fridge, and break it open when friends arrive. You’ll love it. Mix one part chilled white port with one part Schweppes tonic, and add ice and a slice of lemon. Use a tall glass.

This is a special category of ruby port, from just a single good year, which is marked on the label. Late bottled vintage ports have been aged in oak casks for a minimum of seven years before being bottled. They are then ready to drink.

This is a premium reserve red port, created to celebrate the memory of the 19th-century pivot of the house of Ferreira: Dona Antonia Ferreira. It has a beautiful red colour, with intense tawny shades that recall its slow maturation in wood. The aroma is intense and rich with hints of very ripe fruit (plum, apricot and marmalade) and floral notes. Its complex spice and dried fruit notes are the result of oxidation in wood. This is a full-bodied and richly flavoured port, and extremely well balanced. It is very versatile, and can be served on its own, best when slightly chilled, as an aperitif, or at the end of a meal. It goes well with most sweets and cheeses.

This port is blended from wines of between four and nine years old, made from traditional Portuguese red grapes, including touriga franca, touriga nacional, tinta barocca, tinta roriz, tinta cao and tinta amarela, grown in the Upper Corgo region of the Douro.

Ferreira Dona Antonia is bottled ready for drinking and will not improve if kept for a long time. The bottle should be kept upright, protected from direct light and excess humidity, and at a constant temperature of around 16C.