1880 Facts about Port and Madeira by Henry Vizetelly

Collares, Torres Vedras, the Termo, Camarate, &c. 25-

Thomaz,"wlio had made as many as600 pipes of red Collares this, year, his practice being to press not only the gi'apes from his own vineyards, but to buy the produce of neighbouring vine yards for a lump sum,charging himself with the picking and pressing of the fruit. He regarded the recent vintage as a favourable one,the wine exhibiting plenty of colour, which in the case of red wines is always a great considei'ation with Por tuguese growers. His plan is to rack his wine fourtimes in the- course of the year, in tuns holding five pipes each, by which means he gets it clear without having recourse to finings. His price for Collares ofthe preceding year's vintage was^£16 per pipe, whereas nine months before he was selling the same Avine for ^£10.. The local consumption of Avine passing under the name of Collares is very considerable, and to meet the demand other districts, the wines of which are not held in the same esti mation, are largely drawn upon. Chief among these is th© prolific Avine-producing region of the world-famed Torres Ve dras. This district, which includes the communes of Lourinha and Mafra, and extends thence northwards, yields nearly a million and a-half gallons of wine annually, and supplies two- thirds of the ordinaiy wine drunk in Lisbon, besides furnishing-^ a considerable proportion of thehigh-coloured,ratherfull-bodied and neutral-tasting red Avines exported in such large quantities to Prance for mixing Avith the pale and poorer growths of th© northern Avine-groAving departments. The Torres Vedras growths are very varied in character,from the diversified nature of the soil, the aspect of the slopes, and the alluvial lichness of the plains. Certain of them are soft and sweetish in flavoiu', light in colon]', and altogether less vinous in character than others. This arises from the grapes being picked from theii" stalks before they are thrown into the lagay, and from the must not fermenting sutficiently long on the smaller stalks and skins —with a view of the wine absorbing less tannin.and thus being fit for early consumption. A considerable quantity of Avine is vintaged in the immediate environs of Lisbon, and moreespecially in the district north and