D'Oliveira

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Country of Origin: Portugal
Location: Funchal
People: Luis D'Oliveira & Felipe D'Oliveira, Owners

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Pereira D’Oliveira is a cornerstone of Madeira wine history, tracing its origins to the 1880s and incorporating legacies from firms as old as 1820. Housed in cellars dating back to 1619, this family-owned company stands as one of the last surviving symbols of Madeira's pre-phylloxera era. Founded by João Pereira D’Oliveira, a prominent landowner and grower in São Martinho, the company expanded through family marriages and strategic acquisitions.

Key milestones include:

  • 1930s: Its first major expansion came in the 1930s when João’s grandson, Agostinho, married into the Camacho family, acquiring the assets of João Joaquim Camacho & Sons, which had previously absorbed Julio Augusto Cunha & Sons, a notable 19th-century producer established in 1820.
  • 1980s: In the 1980s, D’Oliveira acquired Vasco Luis Pereira, a wine exporter founded in the 1920s, whose operations were taken over after the founder’s son opted not to continue the business.
  • 2000s: In the early 2000s, Agostinho’s sons, Aníbal and Luis, further expanded the company by purchasing Adegas Torreão, a partidista near the historic Hinton Torreão sugar works, which included stocks of rare vintage wines like the 1971 Terrantez, 1928 Sercial, and 1927 Bastardo.
  • 2013: D’Oliveira acquired Arturo de Barros e Sousa, a small traditional producer adjacent to its lodge on Rua dos Ferreiros, inheriting more Madeira stocks to bottle and release over time.

Modern Renaissance
In 1968, Aníbal and Luis D’Oliveira—the great-grandsons of João Pereira D’Oliveira—joined the firm, ushering in a new era of greatness. Prior to their arrival, D'Oliveira did not export and instead sold primarily to other producers on Madeira. This practice contributed to its unparalleled collection of old wines. Today, no other company on the island can boast such a wealth of old Madeiras. D’Oliveira is the reference point for properly aged Madeiras.

D'Oliveira has monumental Verdelhos from the family’s own São Martinho vineyards (one of the great viticulture sites in Madeira, lying just west of Funchal), vintaged 1850, 1890, 1900, 1905 and 1912. There are no finer examples of mature Verdelho in existence today. Digging into the D’Oliveira’s library, one can also find profound Malvasias (aka Malmseys), Buals and Sercials. The family also boasts superb examples of three rare grape varieties: Terrantez (1880 and 1899), Bastardo (1927) and Moscatel (1875 and 1900), as well as Tinta Negras from 1929 and 1995, made available after recent changes to Madeira’s wine laws.

While D’Oliveira has an unparalleled library of ancient Madeiras, it also possesses one of the most impressive stocks of relatively young vintage-dated wines. These include both frasqueiras and colheitas, the difference being time in wood. Frasqueiras require 20 years in wood; colheitas require only five.

D'Olivera's house style is distinguished by very powerful aromatics, great lushness and viscosity, incredible structure, and a tangy character that is essential to the finest Madeira wines. D’Oliveira believes that Madeiras age best in cask. Consequently, its old vintages are kept in wood, and only enough is bottled to meet short-term needs. The winery was among the first on the island to add bottling years to its back labels to emphasize how long each wine had spent in cask.

A Timeless Legacy
Now led by Luis D’Oliveira and Felipe, Aníbal’s son, Pereira D’Oliveira remains one of the world’s great family-owned wine producers. Its deep reserves of ancient and young Madeiras, combined with a steadfast dedication to quality, continue to make it a benchmark in Madeira wine.

Reviews

  • D'Oliveira 1908 Bual, Madeira DOC
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 94 (4/1/2010)
    Bottled in 2008, this actually reminds me of a mature Barsac on the nose. Well defined with dried apricot, red cherry, a touch of walnut and nutmeg. Very refined. The palate is medium-bodied, slightly viscous on the entry with dried honey, apricot, marmalade and Seville orange. Not the weight of some of the coeval Madeira, but amazing persistency and elegance. Lovely. - Neal Martin, Wine Journal
  • D'Oliveira 1908 Bual, Madeira DOC
    The Wine Advocate
    Rating: 92 (8/31/2012)
    The 1908 Boal is deep amber in color. The nose is quite strict and linear with an attractive chlorophyl aroma intermixed with scents of cockleshell and seaweed emerging from the depths. It retains that quasi-Barsac persona. The palate is well-balanced on the entry with a strong, quite severe oxidative streak that tempers this Boal towards the finish. It has attractive purity, but this bottle does not really let itself go like I know it can Still, this is a great Boal. 
  • D'Oliveira 1977 Sercial, Madeira DOC
    The Wine Spectator
    Rating: 93 (4/30/2016)
    Offers a stalwart structure, with plenty of finesse to the flavors of roasted plum, cedar, humus and dried ginger. Citrusy midpalate, presenting a robust finish of almond and buttered toast that is long and rich. Drink now through 2030.
  • D'Oliveira 1994 Verdelho, Madeira DOC
    Vinous
    Rating: 91 (10/8/2019)
    The 1994 Verdelho, bottled in 2018, is worth seeking out. The well-defined nose features sandalwood, stem ginger and freshly baked flapjacks still warm from the oven. The palate is clean and fresh, a little tight at first but opening nicely with ginger and molasses toward the focused finish. This is a well-crafted and poised Verdelho that expresses the grape variety very competently. Excellent.