7S2 



Journal of AgrioiJf lire, Victoria. [11 Dec, 1916. 



English meieliant Francis Boarlcy that lip would have bought it at an extra- 

 ordinary price liad tliis not been contrary to the law.* 



He attributes the superiority of the wines of Gui';es over all the other wines 

 of the Alto Douro to the fact that "in these vineyards are cultivated a -great 

 quantity of Tinto Cao and Pe Agudo, which mixed with Alvarelhao .... 

 make a wine which the English merchants most esteem at the present time; they 

 acknowledge that they find in it colour, bouquet, body, and flavour to their entire 

 satisfaction." He further states that it is a variety which grows so vigorously, 

 and has so much foliage that the fruit is too much sheltered and thereby' liindered 

 from ripening, for which reason it should be pruned to three or four spurs of 

 three or four eyes each, according to the vigour of the vine. 



rig. 16. — Vine of Tinto Cao. 



Photo, taken in October, 1907, at Boa Vista. Note the extremely stony nature 

 of the soil and the curious method of training to numerous small stakes 

 (mostly bamboo), which was general in the Alto Duro district, but which 

 is now being gradually replaced by wire trellis. 



Like Mourisco Preto, it was, in the early days of the phylloxera 

 invasion, erroneously supposed to be phylloxera resistant, and seedlings 

 from it were largely raised and distributed, but without practical result. 



Sr. Duarte de Oliveira deals at some length with this vine in 

 A/npelor/raphie. Its origin is unknown, but it is probably a native of 

 Portugal, where it has been known for a very long time. The name 

 Tinto Cao signifies red dog, or rather black dog, no doubt in reference 



* The price fixed by the Companhia Geral das Vinhas do Alto Doiiro for these wines was 25,000 

 reis, equal to 12.5 francs per pipe of 550 litres (£j for 121 gallons), according to laws of the time, and 

 this price could undergo no modification, even in years of insignificant crop. This company was created 

 in 1756 by the Marques de Pombal, the celebrated Minister of King Don Jose I. (Duarte de Oliveira in 

 Ampelographie). 



