1880 Facts about Port and Madeira by Henry Vizetelly

94

In the Fort Wine Country.

prevail in their immediate neighbourhood. During the summer monthsthetemperatui-einthesunfrequently attains122°Fahi-en- heit,and Baron Forrester mentions that at the vintage of1852,in the months of September and October,the thermometer usually stood at 105° Fahrenheit in the shade. The colder temperature which prevails as one ascends the hills accounts for the grapes ripening later, as well as for the inferior quality of the wine grown above a certain altitude. The proper elevation ofa Douro quinta is indicated by a local proverb,which says that"the best wine is grown within sound of the creaking ofthe boat rudders." The spring frosts, which in more northern countries are so injurious to the sprouting vine, are all but unkno^vn in the Douro region, and when they occur it is only in vineyards situated at an exceptional altitude. Although in winter fi'osts are not particularly frequent, when they do happen they are usually severe. Falls of snow are rare, and the flakes more over melt on reaching the ground, excepting on the very summits of the hills. There is a regular but seldom over abundant fall of rain all along the river banks during the winter, and owing to the sea winds which continually bring masses of vapour as far eastward as the Marao and Monte Muro,rain is tolerably frequent on the Lower Douro throughout the summer. Higher up the stream, however,there have been years when not a drop ofrain has fallen from May to September; but this is an exception,for in the warm weather thunderstorms are by no means iznfrequent. If not too violent they naturally exercise a beneficial effect upon the parched soil and scorched vines, which suffer more or less from the dry easterly winds. But at times the rains are accompanied by large hailstones, and torrents of water will dash from the summit of the more abrupt heights, where no vegetation can restrain their progress,and bounding and reboimdingfromledgetoledge will carry awaytheloose soilofthe vineyards,tearing down walls,uprooting vines and trees,detach ing massesof rock,and imparting great velocityto the current of the Douro,the navigation of whichfrequently becomesobstructed by the debris with which the rushing waters strew its bed.