Vitis vinifera ‘Verdelho’

Horticultural & Botanical History

‘This is the principal grape employed in Madeira for the making of Madeira wine. It is pronounced Verdellio by the natives. Introduced into this country by John Williams, Esq., of Pitmaston. The Verdelho Grape may be grown to great advantage in pots in the greenhouse: the plants might be brought in early in the spring. The leafless stems of the vines, when first introduced, and indeed till the middle of May, would not injure the greenhouse plants; and the fruit would become perfectly ripe long before the middle of October, the Verdelho being rather an early grape.’ [George Lindley – Orchard Guide p.212/1831].

 

 

History at Camden Park

Listed in all published catalogues [Vines for Wine only no.2/1843].

This comment by William Macarthur: ‘No. 26 – Verdeilho or Madeira. Imported in 1825, by the Australian Agricultural Company. Small, oblong or oval, white grape. This, all its qualities considered, is the most valuable grape for wine we have hitherto proved in the colony. It produces with tolerable certainty, and more abundantly than any of the varieties of Pineau. Its crops may be estimated at from 300 to 600 gallons, and sometimes even 700 gallons to the acre. The wine rich and generous, evidently capable of being kept for a good number of years. It, however, does not appear to become fit for use until past its fourth year, and even then it improves greatly with age. The bunches are small, the berries small and oval, and generally very thinly set in the bunch. They seem to suffer little, either from excessive heat or long continued rains. The whole of the skin of the berry will sometimes perish, without the slightest damage to the pulp. They, besides, ripen more equally than the grapes of almost any other variety we have. It is liable to have its young shoots broken off during high winds, through their extreme tenderness or brittleness; and violent winds or rains, during the flowering, cause a large proportion of the flowers to become abortive. These are the only accidents to which to which it seems to be liable; in other respects it is a hardy variety, and begins to bear early; requires rather more room than the varieties of Pineau, say four feet by three feet. There is no reason to suppose that this sort is identical with the Pedro Ximenes, which is the variety chiefly cultivated at Xeres for the finest descriptions of sherry.’ [Maro p.27/1844].

 

 

Notes