626 Journal of Agriculture, Victoria. [10 Oct.. 1916. 



It is interesting to note that the wines of Dao are not sweet wines 

 of Port type, but dry red wines, after the style of a French Burgundy. 



The article on Touriga in " Anipelographie " is contributed by Sr. 

 Duarte de Oliveira, one of the leading Portuguese viticultural authori- 

 ties at the present time. He is an enthusiastic admirer of this valuable 

 vine, as will be seen from the following abridged extracts: — 



SouzSo* and Touriga :u-e really contemporaries — tiieir culture extended on tbe 

 Douro and in Tras os Monies when the Port wine trade, mainly in the hands of 

 London merchants, demanded highly coloured wines to blend with those of 

 France, which, in spite of their excellent quality, lacked the colour sought after 

 on the London market. When the wines of Porto were first introduced into 

 England they were used to improve {coiicertar) weak French wines. ... In 

 the reign of William and Mary, before war between England and France, the 

 annual English consumption of Port amounted to oOO jjipes. 



In a footnote the following interesting particulars are given : — " The British 

 preference for Portuguese wine received a strong stimulus from the Methuen 

 treaty. In 1817 Port wine paid a duty of £27 5s. 3d. per ton as against £56 5s. 

 charged on French wine. According to Dr. Halley, these circumstances have so 

 encouraged the wine trade that tbe Portuguese have bei^un to seriously develop 

 tbe cultivation of tbe vine ; their plantations so(jn occupied a surface of 30 or 40 

 leagues on both banks of tbe Douro, so that owing to this trade, the wealth of 

 tbe country (Portugal) has increased simultaneously with its population 1" 



The name Touriga seems to be a modification of Tourigo, a 

 village in Beira x\lta, where it seems to have originated. In the south 

 of Portugal a variety called Tourigo is much cultivated, similar, if not 

 identical, with Touriga. 



Sr. Duarte de Oliveira denies the supposed identity of Touriga and 

 Cabernet, which was asserted by some earlier writers; he also holds 

 that Villa Maior is wrong in giving Azal as a synonym. The two varie- 

 ties have really nothing in common. 



He quotes Lacerda Lobo, who states that "" Touriga was already, in 1790, tfi 

 he found in several vinej'ards of Tras os Montes and Douro, the two provinces 

 which produce tlie wine exported under the name of Porto — a nanu- which justly 

 enjoys a universal reputation. There is thus no doubt that Touriga is a variety 

 which belon-Ts to the first epoch of the Renaissance of Portuguese viticulture. 



Though widely distributed throughout Portugal it is more particularly in the 

 Port wine district that its value is thoroughly recognised. In a vineyard where 

 no Touriga is grown the wine loses much of its commercial value. Even before 

 Phylloxera, on both banks of the Douro, from Regoa to the Spanish border, this 

 variety predominated in all the vineyards, proprietors forestalled the desire of 

 the purchaser by assuring him that their wine contained much Touriga. Its 

 name was sometimes a sort of passport for wines of doubtful quality. 



With reconstitution, Touriga was somewhat neglected ; but, after a while, it 

 was recognised that it could not be overlooked if a good price for the crop wr 

 desired. And so Touriga began to be grafted .everywhere, and now it is regain- 

 ing, day by day, the lost ground. 



In Tras os Montes, a viticultural brancli of the Douro. Touriga is beginning 

 to reconcjuer the ground _ Within a few years this province will produce wines 

 surpassing some of those of the Douro, which had an established reputation, but 

 in connexion with which the choice of the best scion varieties had been neglected. 



Touriga is not one of the first sorts to come into leaf in spring, and its buds 

 are fairly resistant to spring frosts. It blossoms late, stands bad weather well, 

 and rarely fails to set its fruit. It should be pruned long on good soil, but may 

 be pruned short on dry hill sides. In such a situation tlu' yields sutlers if manures 

 are not applied. 



Touriga appears to bear much more heavily when grafted on resistant stocl-^ 

 than on its own roots. A case is mentioned of Touriga grafted on A. R.G.I, which 

 yielded .over 700 gallons per acre, whereas tbe same variety on its own roots 

 klongside only bore half as much'. It resists oidium well. 



* Sonzno is a Portugiiese varioty, mainlv remarkable for the int.ens'^ colour of the wine yielded 



I'vit. 



