11 Dec, 1916.] L'ortugatse Wine Varieties. 731 



NOTES ON PORTUGUESE WINE VARIETIES. 



By F. de Casfella, Government Yiticulturist. 

 (Concluded from page 686.) 



In conclusion of this somewhat lengthy description of the varieties 

 grown for the production of Port wine in its native Portugal, a few more 

 sorts must be mentioned, but since, with the exception of Tinto Cao and 

 perhaps also cf Tinta Carvalha and Tinta Roriz *, they are unlikely to 

 prove valuable acquisitions for Victorian vineyards, brief descriptions 

 will suffice. 



The varieties to be described in the present article are the various 

 " Tintas " and a few other sorts not much cultivated now, even in 

 Portugal. The Tintas do not really make up a group; their inclusion 

 under one heading is a matter of chance rather than one of common 

 origin, since the different vines are not related in any way. The word 

 " Tinta " in connexion- with a vine merely signifies red or black; in fact, 

 " dfrt*k coloured." Tinta Roriz thus means nothing more than Roriz 

 black, and so on. 



Of the varieties which follow, Tinta Cao and Tinta Francisca are 

 quality sorts. The others are vines grown for quantity rather than 

 quality; they are, in fact, the hoiirffeoix, or common, varieties which, 

 according to Sr. Duarte de Oliveira, save "the situation by preventing 

 the yield of the Douro vineyards from being altogether too low (see 

 Journal, September, 1916, p. 569). 



The exact value of Portuguese wine grapes, especially of the quantity 

 sorts, is not always easy to correctly estimate, owing to the system of 

 blending the grapes of a good many different varieties in the fermenting 

 vat, or lagar. In fact, until recently, it was a common practice for the 

 vines to be mixed in the vineyard instead of being grown in separate 

 blocks. 



Tinto Cao. 



Tinto Cao is undoubtedly one of the leading quality varieties culti- 

 vated in the Alto Douro. It may be iissimilated to tlu- Eastardo type, 

 since it produces wines of excellent bouquet and flavour, and which 

 mature rapidly. Seeing that it does not possess the defect of Bastardo 

 of shrivelling too readily in a warm autumn, it would seem to be well 

 suited for sweet wine production in Xorthern Victoria. 



When visiting Portugal in 1907, the writer was informed by one of 

 the partners in the well-known firm of Cockburn, Smithes, and Co. 

 that the quality of the wine yielded by one of their choicest quintas, 

 or vineyards, was mainly due to the fact that so large a proportion of 

 Tinto Cao is grown there. 



Uohcllo da Fonseca (1791) says of it— " Tinto Ciio . . . inorits ono of tlie 

 first places aninnpst the vines cultivatcii in rortupal: it ripens well, and neither 

 dries up nor rots; it docs not yield excessively, nevertlieless of its crop everythinp 

 is preserved, and from it is made n wiin- of <r<)od body {wnto rohrrtn). strong and 

 penerous." Tie relates how Sr. Manuel Xavier Ribeiro Vaz de Carvalho made in 

 1771 some wine from tliis prai)e aloni-. and it proved superior to all liis other 

 wine and to those made by his neighbours; a wine so hiphly thought of by the 



• TintAH Cftrvalha and Ilorl* may prove of valuo in Victoria for fho-prnducHon of dry red winw. 



