Located in Reguengo, Portalegre, at 600m altitude inside the protected Serra de São Mamede natural park within the Alto Alentejo region in Portugal, the history of what is known as the Vinha dos Padres (literally “Vines (vineyard) of the Monks”) estate - where Vila Maria is located - dates back to its first acquisition from the Portuguese crown in 1795. Despite its rich recorded history, its informal history provides a much longer and gripping winemaking narrative dating back to the mid-1500s with the beginning of an established Jesuit presence in Portugal who’s religious organization relied deeply on the vini- and viticulture.

Jesuits - a religious order founded in 1534 in Paris, then known as “Companhia de Jesus” (or “Society of Jesus”) - settled permanently in the Portalegre and Serra de São Mamede in 1605. Society of Jesus monks came to yearn for the qualities of the Serra de São Mamede terroir characterised mainly by granitic and quartzite soils, boasting altitudes between 400 and 1,000 meters, which greatly favored autochthonous grapes of exceptional varieties still highly coveted in Portugal to this day. Monks continued to make wines throughout the region, undisturbed for almost two centuries during which period the “Companhia de Jesus” accrued much power and influence. During the late 1700s however, as Portugal - like many other European nations - transitioned out of Enlightenment and into the modernities of the Industrial Revolution, a more secular Portuguese monarchy sought to oust the Jesuits and their influence from Portugal. Through the great efforts to expunge the religious order commonly attributed to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo - 1st Marquis of Pombal and 1st Count of Oeiras - commonly known as the Marquis of Pombal, in 1757 begins a national anti-Jesuit campaign. Finally, in 1759, King José I of Portugal, proclaims the "Law of Extermination, Proscription and Expulsion of the Regulars of the Society of Jesus from their Kingdoms and Overseas Dominions," to which effect Jesuit land and belongings are confiscated by the crown, effectively dismantling the religious order.

Shortly after, in 1795, during a petition to purchase land from the Portuguese crown - referenced as “Quinta dos Padres” (“Farmstead of the Monks”) - the buyer, João da Fonseca Achioli Coutinho, requested an evaluation of a vineyard located in Reguengo, near Portalegre, previously belonging to the Society of Jesus. This estate was transactionally named “Vinha dos Padres”. Through the acquisition of this land, the Achioli family settled in the Portalegre region, subsequently greatly expanding their domains, which according to municipal archives greatly contributed to the establishment of the village of Reguengo, Portalegre, where the vineyard is located. The vineyard stayed in the Achioli family until the end of the 1800s.

After trading several hands, regionally affluent António Trindade Crespo acquired Vinha dos Padres, where he produced the original "Quinta da Vinha dos Padres" talha (terracotta pot) wine - both red and white - between 1953-1989. With no heirs, the property was subsequently abandoned during inheritance disagreements from 1990 to 2010, throughout which the vines were left untouched.

The existing century old vines at Vinha dos Padres were planted well before the national vine register was founded (Registo Viticola, by IVV) in 1930, making it difficult to determine their exact age. Current senior residents of Reguengo, Portalegre however, recall relatives working the vines at Vinha dos Padres as far back as 1903, stating they had already been there long before, making the Vinha dos Padres vines at least 130 years old, and giving their blends their distinct and superior quality.

In 2020 Vinha dos Padres is acquired by the Italo-Portuguese family Silveira Catemario di Quadri which return to soil after a long hiatus from many globally accomplished generations of wine making, of Italian heritage (Friuli wines Duca Catemario di Quadri ~1900-1964, later, wines Catemario 1964-1986) and of Portuguese heritage (Alentejo wines Tapada de Coelheiros 1991-2014), restoring the property to its longstanding tradition of winemaking.

Since 2022, the making of Vinha dos Padres wines employ artesanal traditions that culminate centuries of historical heritage of wine making in the highly sought after terroir of the Serra de São Mamede natural park. Self-regulated grapes sprouted from untouched century old vines are harvested carefully and exclusively by hand. These are then fermented in old portuguese clay pots from handmade betwen the 1910-30s in Campo Maior, that have been passed down through generations since the construction of Vila Maria’s cellar at the onset of the 20th century - a traditional wine making method brought to the Alentejo region in the 5th century BC by the phoenicians, and then continued by the Romans - with the bygone methods of the same monks that first made wine here centuries ago. All grapes and wines are carefully harvested and produced by hand from start to finish at 600m of altitude with the help of world-renowned enologist Susana Esteban, resulting in the first premium vintage label, Quinta da Vinha dos Padres in 2022.