Casa Museu José Maria da Fonseca is the heart of one of the oldest and most prestigious wine houses in Portugal, in Vila Nogueira de Azeitao. Founded in 1834, it’s the house of Periquita and Moscatel de Setubal — and its house-museum, with the facade and gardens of another age, is today also a stage for celebrations.
To marry here is to marry surrounded by wine history: century-old cellars, vaults where Moscatels over a hundred years old slumber, gardens, and the memory of six generations of the Soares Franco family. It’s authenticity, wine, and heritage, half an hour from Lisbon.
For couples who want a wine wedding with serious history, in Azeitao, this is the spot. If you ask us, it’s the wine house with the most soul on the Setubal peninsula.
No accommodation on-site. Mary Me coordinates room blocks at the Azeitao and Setubal hotels, with the family-by-family allocation and transfers from Lisbon airport handled.
José Maria da Fonseca was founded in 1834 and is one of the oldest wine companies in Portugal, run for six generations by the same family — the Soares Franco. The house-museum, built in the 19th century and restored in 1923 by the Swiss architect Ernesto Korrodi, was the family residence until 1974 and has always been tied to the brand’s image.
The visit moves through the company’s history and the ancient cellars — the Adega da Mata, the Teares Novos, where Periquita ages, and the Teares Velhos, where the oldest Moscatels of Setubal rest, some of them true relics over a century old. Today, the house-museum also hosts events, among the gardens and the cellars.
If you ask us, there are houses that tell the history of wine and houses that are the history of wine. José Maria da Fonseca’s is clearly the second kind.
We’re in Vila Nogueira de Azeitao, on the Setubal peninsula, south of Lisbon — between the Arrabida mountains and the Sado estuary, in one of the country’s richest wine and food regions, about forty minutes from the airport. It’s countryside, wine, and Azeitao cheese, a step from the city.
The advantage for a destination wedding is the combination of authenticity and access: Azeitao is rural and genuine, but Lisbon, the Arrabida, the Setubal beaches, and Comporta are all at hand.
Anything the guests might want to do — wine tasting, the Arrabida, the beaches, a day in Lisbon — is at hand. Arriving is easy. Leaving — we can’t quite guarantee that part.
Casa Museu José Maria da Fonseca is a wine wedding with heritage. The civil or symbolic ceremony takes place in the historic gardens; the cocktail spreads between the house and the cellars, with a wine tasting; dinner settles in the house-museum’s spaces or in a structure in the garden, among the century-old cellars.
History and wine make the setting — cellars, old Moscatels, the 1923 facade — and give a rich programme for the guests, with a tour and tasting. It’s a wedding of authenticity, far from the formulas.
It’s a venue that favours wine, history, and authenticity over spectacle — ideal for couples who want a wine house with soul in Azeitao. And this is exactly where our experience comes in. The couple’s session winds through the historic gardens, the 1923 facade, and the century-old cellars of Portugal’s oldest table-wine house. Pop the question. We handle the rest.
A wine house with cellars and gardens, without the turn-key infrastructure of a hotel, is exactly where a planner’s coordination makes the difference, linking the operation, the suppliers, and respect for the heritage. We handle the design of the day in coordination with the house-museum team, the management of the room blocks at the Azeitao and Setubal hotels — since the house has no accommodation — and the transfers from Lisbon airport, forty minutes away. And there’s the practical side: the civil-ceremony paperwork in Portuguese, the sound permits, and a programme of wine tasting, the Arrabida, the Setubal beaches, and Lisbon for the guests. From the first call to the last dance.
It’s the house-museum of one of the oldest wine houses in Portugal (founded in 1834), in Azeitao, with century-old cellars, gardens, and the famous vault of Setubal Moscatels. Beyond the visit and tasting, it hosts weddings and events.
There is — it’s the house of Periquita and Moscatel de Setubal, and the cellar visit ends in a tasting. It’s a rich programme for the guests, with a tour and a tasting.
It’s a setting for intimate to medium-scale weddings, across the gardens and the house-museum’s spaces. The exact capacity for your format is confirmed with the house.
No — the house-museum has no accommodation. Mary Me coordinates the room blocks at the Azeitao and Setubal hotels and handles the transfers.
In Vila Nogueira de Azeitao, on the Setubal peninsula, south of Lisbon, about forty minutes from the airport. Transfers handled by Mary Me.
From late spring to early autumn, to enjoy the gardens outdoors — early autumn, in harvest season, has a special charm. We recommend booking in advance.
It’s the house-museum of José Maria da Fonseca, founded in 1834 — the house of Periquita and Moscatel de Setubal — with century-old cellars and historic gardens in Azeitao. Wine heritage like few places.
