Esgana Cão

Esgana Cão is a white wine variety . The Portuguese name Esgana Cão literally means dog strangler and alludes to the spiciness and bitterness of the kernels. It is an autochthonous variety of Portugal. The assumption, which is still often to be read, that this is Riesling has turned out to be wrong.

Its cultivation is recommended in the regions of Trás-os-Montes , Beira Litoral, Ribatejo , Oeste , Madeira and the Azores . It is also approved in the Douro , Minho and Beira Interior regions . In the 1990s, a vineyard area of ​​around 583 hectares was raised.

The late ripening variety results in an alcoholic, very acidic wine . Due to the high acid content, a connection to Riesling was previously suspected. Under the name Esgana Cão, it is contained in the DOC wines of the Vinho Verde and Bucelas areas , as well as in the white port wine . It is cultivated under Sercial on the island of Madeira and also gave its name to a variant of Madeira wine .

Synonyms: Cerceal, Cerceal Branco, Cerceal de Jaes, Escanoso, Esgana, Esganinho, Sercial

See also the article Viticulture in Portugal and the list of grape varieties .

literature

• Pierre Galet : Dictionnaire encyclopédique des cépages. Hachette, Paris 2000, ISBN 2-01-236331-8 .
• Jancis Robinson : The Oxford Wine Lexicon. 3rd, completely revised edition. Hallwag, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-8338-0691-9 .