Dona Antónia Adelaide Ferreira or Ferreirinha, as she was affectionately known, was one of the great personalities who left their mark on the Douro wine region and the history of Port Wine. She was born in Régua in 1811 into a family of wine growers and Port Wine merchants. She was an enterprising, courageous, and visionary woman, who confronted the powerful of her time, refused titles and honours, faced plagues and epidemics, went through several personal sorrows and built one of the valuable fortunes of her time, and never ceased to care for those most in need. Get to know the inspiring story of this fascinating woman who marked an era.
Antónia Adelaide Ferreira was born in 1811 in a wealthy family with credits in vines cultivation for Port Wine. She married in 1834 with her right cousin António Bernardo from whom she had three children, António Bernardo, Maria de Assunção and Maria Virgínia, who died as a child. Her husband died early, a victim of the bohemian life that he led well known in the social circles of Oporto, Paris or London, and that distanced them along the years.
António Bernardo died in Paris on 5th November 1844 contaminated by syphilis. However, despite the cosmopolitan and bohemian life, he was able to expand the family business. When Dona Antónia was widowed, at the age of 33, she had a considerable fortune in his hands.
It was her first husband who built the famous Quinta do Vesúvio. Outside the boundaries of the demarcated region, Quinta do Vesúvio is still one of the most beautiful Quintas in the Douro. It was also António Bernardo who, in 1815, started exporting Port Wine to England. He also left a colossal estate of barrels of wine.
When she had to take on a leading role, when women played a secondary role in society, her vocation as a businesswoman awoke.
The first years of the 1840s were not easy, as the Port Wine market suffered a downturn and, from 1850 onwards, powdery mildew from America devastated the Douro vineyards, drastically reducing production.
The year 1868, when powdery mildew was being fought, was a surplus year. In that year, the wine producers were with wine-producing that they couldn't sell, despite the excellent quality of the wine. To help the producers and winegrowers, and perhaps sensing a future business opportunity, Dona Antónia bought large quantities of wine at a low price since everyone wanted to sell.
From 1870 a new pest also appeared from America - the phylloxera (Phylloxera Vastatrix). The vineyards, which were not yet in the best condition due to powdery mildew, were devastated by this insect. Within 30 years, the beautiful Douro wine valley was abandoned, with thousands of producers going bankrupt.
Dona Antónia had to react and was very astute. She managed crises and turned them into opportunities, managing to increase her fortune spectacularly. When phylloxera destroyed the Douro's productive capacity, there were shortages. Dona Antónia managed to make fabulous gains with the enormous stocks of wine she had. She also sold various assets accumulated by her husband, from palaces to shares, to invest in the Douro.
From 1864 she invested in the eastern end of the Douro Valley, an area outside the Demarcated Region boundaries established by the Marquês de Pombal's government. In 1964 she bought Quinta do Arnozelo, in 1869 Quinta do Mileu, in 1872 Casal de Moncorvo and in 1877 Quinta da Coalheira.
Open to innovation travelled to England to learn about the most effective means to fight phylloxera. On her return to Portugal, she adopts new techniques for wine production and invests in new vineyard plantations using American roots, immune to phylloxera. This technique will last until the present day.
To prevent the Douro farms from falling into English hands, Dona Antónia bought them and later returned them for a symbolic price. In some cases, she even donated them to the previous owners.
However, her personal life suffered some setbacks. Her son followed the same bohemian life as his late father, claiming part of his paternal inheritance, squandering it and accumulating debts. Against the wishes of his mother, António Bernardo married the daughter of a Brazilian capitalist from Oporto. In the end, Dona Antónia had to pay for the education of his grandchildren and give financial support to his son.
His daughter was the unwitting protagonist of a story that shocked society and delighted the press at the time. Maria de Assunção was purposal to marry the Duke of Saldanha on behalf of her son. Dona Antónia refused because her daughter was too young. She was only 11 years old. The other part of the story is worthy of a soap opera as there was allegedly an attempted kidnapping with the connivance of António Bernardo and Dona Antónia's mother. The Duke's defenders deny it. They say they only wanted to ask for his daughter's hand, but after this episode, Dona Antónia takes refuge in England with her daughter and the administrator of her estates. First, she goes to Lamego, then to Vila Real, where she meets José da Silva Torres. From Vila Real, they sail by boat to London. Before the trip, she publishes a "Protest" against the Duke of Saldanha in the Oporto press, publicly confronting the powerful governor.
In London, on 20th September 1856, Dona Antónia married José da Silva Torres. After the marriage, they returned immediately to Portugal.
The couple made regular visits to Oporto and spent long periods in Lisbon, where they bought the Calhariz palace. The marriage of Dona Antónia's daughter to the son of the Marquis of Loulé, grandson of King João VI, linked them to the Royal House, and Silva Torres became involved in politics. The couple began to receive high-ranking figures from the aristocracy and the business world.
The marriage of Maria de Assunção also brought misfortune to Dona Antónia, as both her daughter and son-in-law led a life of luxury and exorbitant expenses, prompting Dona Antónia to intervene.
One of the mythical stories involving Dona Antónia and one of the aristocrats who frequented her house is that of the shipwreck responsible for the death of Baron de Forrester. On 12th May 1861, the Baron de Forrester went to visit Dona Antónia at the most famous of her estates, Quinta do Vesúvio. The Baron offered to accompany her and her entourage to Régua, where she was leaving that day, 56 kilometres away. The tragedy occurred at the most dangerous place on the river, the Valeira cataract. The torrent force sank the boat and the occupants fall into the raging waters of the river. Dona Antónia and all the ladies of the entourage escaped due to the enormous balloon skirts they used at the time, which made them float to the shore. Two servants and the Baron of Forrester, whose body never appeared, died tragically. It is thought, that he was pulled to the bottom by the heavy belt he wore loaded with gold pounds.
In 1877 her second husband, Francisco José da Silva Torres, bought on behalf of Dona Antónia about 300 hectares of wildlands in Monte Meão belonging to the Municipality of Vila Nova de Foz Côa.
This operation perplexed the main collaborators as the land was wild and in remote areas with no roads to reach it. The only possible means of transport was by boat in a dangerous journey that took about 12 days from Oporto. Again Dona Antónia demonstrated her entrepreneurial vision. She invested in the railway line that had only reached Penafiel, which was 30 km from Oporto.
Her second husband died in 1880, but her tenacity and deep love for the Douro prevailed.
Ten years later, when the railway line reached Pocinho village, it was possible to start a "grandiose project" as said António José Claro da Fonseca, appointed by Dona Antónia as its manager. To make the baptized Quinta do Vale Meão "the first property of the Douro".
During eight years, the land was cleared, vineyards and olive groves were planted, two wine cellars were built, the main house and numerous buildings including a small hospital, a school and two chapels. The project was completed in 1895 but, Dona Antónia did not enjoy it much as she died unexpectedly in March 1896 leaving an incredible material legacy.
Her funeral cortege acquired an extraordinary dimension with the Douro people gathering in huge crowds to pay their last respects to this unique woman who defended the Douro and its people, and who, not even during the worst crises, forgot the most fragile.
In 1855, when the Douro was ravaged by a cholera epidemic, she wrote: "everyone in his land must do everything for the good of humanity". And she maintained this principle throughout her life. Throughout the buying and selling of her farms, she always invested in social works such as hospitals, churches, schools and fire stations, improving the quality of life of the people of the Douro region, thus motivating the settlement of the population. For all this, the memory of Dona Antónia is venerated in the Douro region to this day.
After his death, her heirs established in 1898 a company named Companhia Agrícola e Comercial dos Vinhos do Porto, known as "Casa Ferreirinha" whose purpose was to produce, age and market the wines from the grapes of the different farms of the family. In 1987 it was sold to Sogrape, the largest Portuguese wine company. Some farms did not go into business and are still in the hands of their descendants, such as Quinta do Vale Meão and Quinta do Valado. The iconic Quinta do Vesúvio was sold to the Symington group who own several leading Port brands.
Reference
Quinta do Vale Meão Website
Leace a reply Cancel reply