1880 Facts about Port and Madeira by Henry Vizetelly

72

In the Port Wine Country.

Several otlier notable quintas being as yet unvisited,either on the banks of the Douro or up the valley ofthe Eio Torto— such, for instance, as Eoncao, Eomaneira, Eorez and Eoeda Carrapata, Carvalhas, Cannaes, and Cascalheira—we started, during the forenoon from Celleir6s, winding round the hills in the direction ofthe Pinhao,and passing through the Quinta of Terrafeita, where once more the customary vintage scene pre sented itself. It was the dinner hour, and men from the adjacent lagares,with their brawnylegs dyed in new-made wine,, were lolling or lying full length on the walls inclosing the vineyards, or dozing with the swine at the verge of the moun tain road. Having crossed the river over a wooden bridge, we ascended the opposite side ofthe ravine and passed through the village of Val de Mendiz,perched on a spur of the principal chain of hills. There were the usual execrable roads to be traversed—^roads of whichthe reader can onlyform an idea if he has ridden up or down a narrow dried-up mountain watercourse verging on the conventional angle of 45 degrees, and strewn with boulders of all shapes and sizes—the kind of track,in fact which even a venturous chamois might hesitate to take. For roads such as these your horse has need to be not only sure footed and sound in his knees and fetlocks, and strong in his haunches, but he should possess the keenest of sights,for if night overtakes you with no moon shining he will have to pick his way in Cimmerian darkness. Should you dismount and try to lead him the chances are you wiU stumble and fall at every second step,leaving you no alternative but to jump into the saddle again and trust your valued neck to your horse's intui tion. When making the steeper ascents, should he show an inchnation to waver the spur must be promptly applied,for in mounting these rude rocky staircases the horse that hesitates is assuredly lost. The summit of the hills gained, a large interior basin pre sented itself, formed by the mountain slopes bordering the Pinhao and the Douro, with terraces of vines rising from base to summit in every direction, and a little brook,the Povoa,.