With its red gold color and fresh aromas, this is the youngest style of tawny Port. But in its class, it is smoothly made, a soft, ripe and sweet wine, just hinting at spirits.\n Producer Information\n Porto Ferreira is a Port producer founded in 1751. It is billed as the only one of the great Port houses to have remained in Portuguese ownership throughout its history. The marque is now part of the giant Sogrape Vinhos company. Other Port labels under the same ownership are Offley and Sandeman. The portfolio begins with a Ruby, which unusually, is the only red Port. There are four white Ports; a Branco, a Branco Seco (dry white), a sweeter Lágrima and a Dona Antónia Reserva Branco. A quartet of Tawny Ports completes the current line up. The standard bottling is joined by three Dona Antónia wines, a Reserva, a 10 Year Old and a 20 Year Old. The Ferreira family have owned vines in what is now the Douro DOC since the mid 18th Century. The company grew considerably in the early 19th Century. Dona Antónia took over the business in 1844 as a 33-year old widow. She was well known throughout the region for her commercial sense, as well as her acts of social welfare, and earned the nickname Ferreirinha ("little Ferreira"). The emphasis on Tawny Port at Ferreira reflects her personal preference. Quinta do Porto is the oldest Ferreira property, near Pinhão. It was also the home of Dona Antónia. The 24 hectares (60 acres) of vineyards are used mainly for Tawnies. Quinta do Caêdo lies upstream from Pinhão. It has 24ha of vines planted on both sides of the tributary from which it takes its name. Around a third of the plots are of mixed varieties in the traditional manner. Quinta da Leda, in the east of the Douro region is the home of Casa Ferreirinha, the table wine operation associated with Ferreira. It boasts a gravity-fed winery built in 2001, and 76ha of vineyards.
