1880 Facts about Port and Madeira by Henry Vizetelly

118

In the FoH Wine Country.

da Gaia,a suburb of Oporto,on the opposite bank of the Douro, and in the" lodges" of ■which some hundred and fifty thousand pipes of -wine must be ordinarily stored. Embarking at the ferry stairs at the foot of the Eua do Sao Joao, a couple of minutes sufiice to ro-w us across the Douro, and -we land in front of an open space planted ■with a few trees, where half-a-dozen bullock-carts are waiting to be laden close to the water's edge. Perched on a lofty hill to the left the church of the Serra convent, which played such a notable part in the Miguelite siege of Oporto, looks down upon the Douro, and immediately in fi'ont of us is a granite building ■with an open arcade below, and some sculptured flaming urns surmounting its slightly ornamental facade. On the principal doorway a small tablet, ha^ring a miniature representation of the Dnion Jack in one comer, notifies that the edifice is British property, the ©■wners being Messrs. G. G. Sandeman Sons and Co., the eminent Port wine shippers, whose names for half-a-century past have regularly headed the Oporto shipping list. Here the firm have their ofiices, presenting somewhat of the antiquated appearance of a substantial merchant's counting-house of the last century, and adjoining is a network of lodges, in which their exten sive stock of wine is stored. These comprise a series of irre gular constructions, including numerous galleries or " cumes," as they are technically termed, communicating occasionally ■with each other by means of lofty arches, and many of them having all the appearance of great age. Fungi overspread the damper walls, rude, ponderous, blackened beams support their pointed roofs, and light usually is but sparingly admitted through small baiTed windows and diminutive skylights. Venerable-looking jjipes full of the bright ruby-tinted potent wine of the TJpper Douro are ranged in seemingly endless rows and in double and triple tiers, with here and there a tramway to facilitate the transport of the casks from one lodge to another. jJTo special system of arrangement appears to be observed, ■wines of various ages, quality, and value frequently being stored for convenience under the same roof. Brawny barefootedmatulas are threading