It is said that it was the Phoenicians and the Greeks who brought from the Near East quite a few grape varieties for this region and who, finding the mild climate, the slopes of Arrábida and the riverside area of ??the Tejo propitious to the cultivation of the vine, threw themselves into its planting. Later, the Romans and the Arabs gave great increase to the culture of the vine in this peninsula.

With the foundation of the kingdom of Portugal, other peoples came, namely the Franks, a people of ancient wine-growing traditions, who increased wine production in this region, a tradition that still prevails today.

In the 19th century, many figures contributed to the identity of the Setúbal Peninsula and to the advancement of the regional agricultural economy. José Maria da Fonseca was one of the personalities in the area of ??viticulture who settled in Vila Nogueira de Azeitão and founded his company in the wine sector, projecting the fame and prestige of the Moscatel de Setúbal. Along with the generous Moscatel de Setúbal, José Maria da Fonseca created, in 1850, Periquita wine, the red table wine that today enjoys the highest international reputation.

The name Periquita comes from the property where the oldest Portuguese table wine came to be produced: the Cova da Periquita.

Located on the west coast south of Lisbon, it is in this wine region that the famous and much-loved Moscatel de Setúbal is produced.

This region can be divided into two distinct zones: one to the South and Southwest, mountainous, with altitudes between 100 and 500 m. The other, on the contrary, is flat, extending on an extensive plain by the river Sado.

The climate is mixed, subtropical and Mediterranean. Influenced by the proximity of the sea, the river basins of the Tagus and Sado, and the mountains and hills that are located in the region, it has weak thermal amplitudes and a rainfall index that is between 400 and 500 mm.

The soils are clay-sandy or loamy-sandy-clay, limestone with slight alkalinity, some of them compact and fertile.

The quality of the wines of this region justified the recognition of the Denominations of Controlled Origin "Setúbal" for the production of the generous wine, and "Palmela", in which, besides the white and red wines, also includes the production of sparkling wine , pink and liqueur.

The Peninsula of Setúbal has two Denominations of Origin (Palmela and Setúbal). The Casta dominant paint is the Castelão that sometimes is conjugated with Alfrocheiro and Trincadeira. The predominant white varieties in the region are Fernão Pires, Arinto and Moscatel de Setúbal, which is used in white wines and also in the generous wines of the Denomination of Origin of Setúbal.

 The characteristics that stand out in the new wines of the Peninsula of Setúbal are the floral aromas in the whites and the soft flavors of spices and berries in the reds.

Moscatel de Setúbal is a generous wine of excellent quality, especially when aged for many years in oak barrels. It is a wine with a very intense aroma, orange blossoms, with a sweet and full flavor, that evolves with age for notes of nuts, raisins and coffee. The generous wine from Setúbal made from the Moscatel and Moscatel Roxo varieties is one of the oldest and most famous wines in the world.

The liqueur wines made from the Moscatel Roxo grape variety, are produced in small quantities, have similar characteristics to the Moscatel de Setúbal, however they are finer and have very complex aromas and flavors of bitter orange, raisins, figs and hazelnuts. Excellent to accompany a sophisticated dessert.