Terrantez (also known as ''Cascal''

Vitis International Variety Catalogue The Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC) is a database of various species and varieties/cultivars of grapevine, the genus ''Vitis''. VIVC is administered by the Geilweilerhof Institute for Grape Breeding (''Institut für Rebenzüchtung G ...

(VIVC)
Terrantez
' () Accessed: August 16, 2012.) is a now-rare white

Portuguese wine Portuguese wine was mostly introduced by the Romans (wine), Romans and other ancient Mediterranean peoples who traded with local coastal populations, mainly in the South. In pre-Roman Gallaecia-Lusitania times, the native peoples only drank beer ...

grape variety This list of grape varieties includes cultivated grapes, whether used for wine, or eating as a table grape, fresh or dried (raisin, Zante currant, currant, sultana (grape), sultana). For a complete list of all grape species, including those unimp ...

that was once widely used on the island of

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

to make the

sweet Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, ketones, ...

fortified wine Fortified wine is a wine to which a distilled spirit, usually brandy, has been added. In the course of some centuries, winemakers have developed many different styles of fortified wine, including port, sherry, madeira, Marsala, Command ...

for which the island is known. By the 1990s, the variety was nearly

extinct Extinction is the termination of an organism by the death of its Endling, last member. A taxon may become Functional extinction, functionally extinct before the death of its last member if it loses the capacity to Reproduction, reproduce and ...

on Madeira, due to a combination of low yields and the mid-19th century oidium (

powdery mildew Powdery mildew is a fungus, fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of Ascomycota, ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant disea ...

) and

phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belongs to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs); orig ...

epidemics that devastated the island's vineyards.J. Robinson (1996). ''Jancis Robinson's Guide to Wine Grapes''. Oxford University Press. . p. 184. The variety has experienced a slow revival in recent years, but as of 2021, plantings on Madeira remain limited to . The Madeiran government has led replanting efforts from 2016 in the form of free viticultural advice and subsidies to growers. There are still some limited plantings in the

Minho Province Minho () was a former province in Portugal, established in 1936 and dissolved in 1976. It consisted of 23 municipalities, with its capital in the city of Braga. Today, the area would include the districts of Braga and Viana do Castelo. Minho ha ...

where, as ''Cascal'', is a permitted blending variety with Alvarinho and other grapes in the

Denominação de Origem Controlada The denominação de origem controlada (or DOC) is the system of protected designation of origin for fruit, wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products from Portugal. Wines Portuguese wine regions, as well as producers of several o ...

(DOC) wine

Vinho Verde Vinho Verde (; , nonliterally 'young wine') refers to Portuguese wine that originated in the historic Minho Province in the far north of the country. The modern-day 'Vinho Verde' region, originally designated in 1908, includes the old Minho Pro ...

. As ''Terrantez'' the grape is permitted in several of the'' Indicação de Proveniencia Regulamentada'' (IPR) regions of the

Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...

including

Biscoitos IPR Biscoitos is a Portuguese wine region located on the Terceira island of the Azores. The region has the second tier ''Indicação de Proveniencia Regulamentada'' (IPR) classification and maybe some day promoted to Denominação de Origem Controlada ...

Terceira Island Terceira () is a volcanic island in the Azores archipelago, about a third of the way across the North Atlantic Ocean at a similar latitude to Portugal's capital Lisbon, with the island group forming an insular part of Portugal. It is one of the ...

Graciosa IPR Graciosa is a Portuguese wine region centered on the island of Graciosa in the Azores. The region has the second tier ''Indicação de Proveniencia Regulamentada'' (IPR) classification and may some day be promoted to ''Denominação de Origem Cont ...

on the island of

Graciosa Graciosa Island () (literally "graceful" or "enchanting" in Portuguese), also referred to as the ''White Island'', is a volcanic island in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the northernmost of the Central Group of islands in the Azores archipelago. The o ...

and

Pico IPR The Pico IPR is a Portuguese wine region located on the island of Pico Island, Pico in the Portugal, Portuguese archipelago of the Azores. The region is designated a second-tier ''Indicação de Proveniencia Regulamentada'' (IPR) classification, a ...

Pico Island Pico Island (''Ilha do Pico,'' ) is an island in the Central Group, Azores, Central Group of the Portugal, Portuguese Azores. The landscape features an eponymous volcano, Mount Pico, Ponta do Pico, which is the highest mountain in Portugal, the A ...

.T. Stevenson (2005). ''The Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia''. Dorling Kindersley. . pp. 330–333.

History

Terrantez is one of Madeira's five traditional noble white grape varieties (along with

Sercial Sercial is the name of a white grape grown in Portugal, especially on the island of Madeira. It has given its name to the driest of the four classic varieties of Madeira fortified wine.winepros.com.au. The grape is grown in diminishing quantit ...

Verdelho Verdelho is a white wine grape grown throughout Portugal, though most associated with the island of Madeira, and also gives its name to one of the four main types of Madeira wine. At the turn of the 20th century it was the most widely planted ...

Bual Boal is a name given to several varieties of grape cultivated in Portugal, notably in the production of medium-rich fortified wines from Madeira Island. On many wine labels of Madeira wine, the variety's name is anglicized as Bual. Bual from ...

and

Malvasia Malvasia (), also known as Malvazia, is a group of wine grape varieties grown historically in the Mediterranean region and Macaronesia, but now grown in many of the winemaking regions of the world. In the past, the names Malvasia, Malvazia, ...

). The precise origins of the grapes are unknown; it is thought to have originated from mainland Portugal alongside those varieties. Widely planted in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the variety was nearly wiped out by the oidium epidemic of 1851, and phylloxera, which was introduced to the island in 1872. As late as 2006, it was declared that there were "practically no Terrantez vines left at all on the island (Madeira)". In recent years, commercial interest in the variety has slowly increased. To encourage new plantings of the variety, the government Wine, Embroidery and Handicraft Institute of Madeira (IVBAM) has since offered growers free viticultural advice and a €1.30 subsidy per kilogram of grapes harvested since 2016. Plantings of Terrantez on the island have gradually increased: in 2012, of Terrantez was reported to be under vine. This had increased to by 2019, with 22 registered growers. IVBAM data from 2021 indicates of Terrantez plantings, split between 36 growers.

Regions

Terrantez is a low-yielding vine that is most widely associated with the wines of Madeira though its use in the wine and presence on the island had declined until a fairly recent revival. Some plantings of the variety can still be found in the

, the Portuguese island chain located northwest of Madeira in the Northern

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. There is also some plantings of in the Minho province on the Portuguese mainland though

ampelographer Ampelography ( ἄμπελος, "vine" + γράφος, "writing") is the field of botany concerned with the identification and classification of grapevines, ''Vitis'' spp. Traditionally this has been done by comparing the shape and colour of th ...

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has speculated that the mainland variety (known most often as ''Cascal'') may actually be a different variety, though this has not been conclusively determined.Oz Clarke (2001). ''Encyclopedia of Grapes''. Harcourt Books. p. 266. . As of 2021, plantings of the variety on Madeira were mainly split between the

Câmara de Lobos Câmara de Lobos (; or 'Wolves' Chamber') is a municipality and town in the southern coast of the Portuguese island of Madeira, divided in 5 freguesias. A de facto suburb of the much larger capital city of Funchal, it is one of the larger pop ...

(), Calheta (), and Santa Cruz () municipalities. All other municipalities (

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

Ponta do Sol Ponta do Sol (; ) is a municipality in the southwestern coast of the island of Madeira, in the archipelago of Madeira. The population in 2011 was 8,862, in an area of . History The settlement of Ponta do Sol began shortly after the discovery of t ...

Porto Moniz Porto Moniz () is a municipality in the northwest corner of the island of Madeira. It is located west of Santana and Machico, and northwest of Funchal. The population in 2011 was 2,711, in an area of 82.93 km2. The municipality features a na ...

, Ribeira Brava,

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, São Vicente) each had less than of plantings, and the

Machico Machico () is a municipality, parish and city in the southeast part of the island of Madeira Island, Madeira, in the Autonomous Region of Madeira. The easternmost municipality on the island, it is also the third-most populous area with a populati ...

municipality had no Terrantez plantings at all.

Wine styles

Terrantez can be produced in medium dry ''(meio seco)'' or medium sweet ''(meio doce)'' styles. The grape has the potential to make rich full-bodied wines with highly perfumed bouquet. According to wine expert

Oz Clarke Robert Owen Clarke (born 1949), known as Oz Clarke, is a British wine writer, actor, television presenter and broadcaster. Early life Clarke's parents were a chest physician and a nursing sister. He is of Irish descent and was brought up Roma ...

, in older bottles of Madeira Terrantez has shown an ability to age well in developing wines with long finishes and layers of complexity. Commercial and grower interest in Terrantez has increased in recent years, partly due to the grape's scarcity. Low production volumes mean that Terrantez is generally bottled as a single-vintage wine ''(garrafeira/frasqueira),'' though both Henriques & Henriques and Blandy's produce age-dated (20 year old) expressions.

Synonyms and other varieties

In addition to Cascal, Terrantez has been known under a variety of a

synonyms A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

including: Morrao, Murrao, Pe de Perdiz, Pe de Perdrix, Pied de Perdix and Terrantes. Several other white Portuguese grape varieties share synonyms with Terrantez and may be related though there is not yet any conclusive evidence. These include Folgasao which has the synonyms of ''Terrantez da Madeira'' and ''Terrantez de Madere'' and

Donzelinho Branco Donzelinho branco is a white Portuguese wine grape variety that is classified as one of the List of Port wine grapes, "Very Good" varieties authorized to be used in Port wine production. While rarely seen as a varietal wine, Donzelinho branco is a ...

which has the synonym of ''Terrantez'' and ''Terrantes''. The Portuguese red grape

Alicante Bouschet Alicante Bouschet or Alicante Henri Bouschet is a wine grape variety that has been widely cultivated since 1866. It is a cross of Petit Bouschet (itself a cross of the very old variety Teinturier du Cher and Aramon) and Grenache.French/

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

grape

Malbec Malbec () is a purple grape variety used in making red wine. The grapes tend to have an inky dark color and robust tannins, and are known as one of the six grapes allowed in the blend of red Bordeaux wine. In France, plantations of Malbec are ...

is also known as ''Pied de Perdix''.

(VIVC)
Malbec
'. Accessed: August 16, 2012.

References

{{Authority control White wine grape varieties