Vineyards of Madeira
Justino’s have produced a set of pictures taking a tour of the vineyards of Madeira.
There are over 4000 individual growers of vines producing grapes for Madeira wine. Many of the vineyards are therefore very small. It is estimated that about 2000 hectares of land are suitable for viniculture. In recent years farmers have been turning to growing bananas and less than half the land suitable for growing grapes is actually used.
Here we see vineyards right on the shoreline. You can see the wicker fences to protect the grapes from the wind. Boal and Malmsey tend to be grown at the lower levels.
This picture shows vineyards on the slopes of Madeira. The change in nature of the vineyard from the latada style on the right to a more modern layout is quite striking.
Here the vines are just coming into leaf and the elaborate trellises can be seen clearly. These terraces are called Latadas. This pergola style produces a cover of leaves which helps to protect the grapes from strong winds and changes in temperature. On the north of the island wicker fences are created to protect the vineyards from the northerly winds.
Much of Madeira is irrigated by levadas, manmade irrigation channels that hug the contours of the hillsides and irrigate the vineyards and farmland. Many are walkable as well.
This picture shows the rocky landscape that makes much of Madeira and is suitable for vineyards
The land is being prepared by creating terraces to grow vines in Madeira
The vines are trained to grow on the trellis or latadas as they are known. It is not uncommon for farmers to also grow vegetables under the latadas. This slows down the growth of the vines which helps them become more aromatic.
Today modern boxes are used to collect the picked grapes which are then labelled and left on the roadside and are now collected by pick-up trucks and taken to the winery.
The harvested grapes are ready to be transported to the Justino winery
It is not easy to visit the Justino’s winery as it is some distance from Funchal, but their wines are widely available in Funchal and Perhola retailer in Funchal has an excellent range of Justino’s wines to try and buy.
Justino’s are the largest producer of Madeira wines and make a superb 10 years old Sercial which is a firm favorite of mine. They also produce excellent table wines under the Colombo label.
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