Viticulture in Cape Verde
The viticulture in Cape Verde focused on the island of Fogo and here on the Caldera Chá de Caldeira . It was not until the 19th century that the French Count Montrond brought grapevines on a stopover on their journey to Brazil.
Viticulture is only practiced to a significant extent in the volcanic "lunar landscape" of the Chã das Caldeiras. Because of the scarcity of agricultural land and water, areas are used on which no other culture than wine grows.
The grapes were grown as a mixed culture with fruit and vegetables and developed by a local winegrowing cooperative founded in 1995. When the Pico do Fogo volcanic erupted in November 2014, lava flows destroyed the winery and two villages, but largely spared the vines. The annual harvest at that time was around 1000 hectoliters.
The nearby Vinha Maria Chaves winery was not affected by the outbreak. On the initiative of the Capuchin monk Ottavio Fasano from the Italian Piedmont , 100,000 vines were planted there in 2005 on 23 hectares. He also initiated the construction of a new 2000 m² cellar with modern equipment. To irrigate the vines on the extremely arid island, wells were drilled to a depth of 100 m and around 80 km of irrigation pipes were laid. In addition to the cultivation of the previously grown grape varieties of French and Portuguese origin, the winery is experimenting with around 20 mainly Italian grape varieties with the help of South Tyrolean oenologists and cellar masters.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Macaronesia - Viticulture on Cape Verde. , In: vinoa.de . Retrieved August 12, 2018.
- ↑ : Cape Verde - winemakers fleeing the lava. Retrieved August 12, 2018 , In: weinkenner.de . Retrieved August 12, 2018.
- ↑ Happy beachless. In: zeit.de . Retrieved August 12, 2018.