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The atmosphere
The dry and hot climate, with thermal oscillations between day and night and among the hot and cold station, as well as the a lot of hours of sun during the vegetative cycle, accompanied by the fertile volcanic soil, in years of normal precipitations, make it good for good and high quality grape production with a one degree of considerable sugar. The dry climate and the fact that it rains after crop reduces the needs of intervention considerably, so there are made only 2-3 fumigations against pesticides (“dusts of the vineyard”) essentially with sulphur, reducing the use of chemical products more and more. ~
The breeds
The breeds of the grapevines are usually called black and white traditional and white and black moscatel, type vitis vinífera, they are European type and they are almost certainly Portuguese provenience. The two types creates the wines Chãs - the black traditional and the white moscatel - with great probability, they correspond the breeds respectively Tourigia and Moscatel of Setúbal.
The surface vitícola
In 1998, in the extent of the project financed by the Italian Cooperation and executed by COSPE, the surface cultivated with intercalated grapevines and other fruits in the Island of Fogo was estimated to be about 120 hectares. The following years the surface area cultivated increased in such a way that some experts of the area estimated that it doubled in size.
The Wine-Producing Process
In the wine producing process much of attention are given to the hygiene conditions of the wine cellar. The grapes arrive clean, healthy and preferably complete, it is squeezed (in the case of the red wine) and pressed (in the case of the wine rosé and white) as quickly as possible.
It is important that the fermentation begins as soon as possible and for this selected ferments are added, the same natural ferments founded on grape berries.
The wine cellar is cool and the external cooling of the barrels allows (above all the white and rose wine) to be fermented more slowly, conserving the odor and the taste characteristics of the wine and for the sugar contained in the grape to be transformed totally in alcohol, creating wines in great majority dry, more appreciated to accompany someones lunch or dinner and also better conserved in time.
O red wine must be fermented with the peel, it is pressed after the fermentation and then conserved in full barrels, until a second fermentation, that will naturally cause the bacterias contained in the deposit makes the wine young wine and then reduces the tenor of acidity of the wine. Only after this second fermentation that the red wine is separated from its dreg, conserving it then in barrels full.
The white and rose wine, soon after the alcoholic fermentation, they are separate from their deposits because one wants to avoid the fermentation bacteria, since the freshness of these wines are the most appreciative.
Till bottling, the wine is clearer, also taking advantage of the cold-winter months in Chã das Caldeiras as it is separated several times from its deposits and maintained in barrels completely full to avoid the contact with air. To increase the conservebility of the wine in tropical climate it is also filtered before the bottling.
The characteristics of the wine of Chã
The wines of Chã are fullbody wines, rich in color, extract and alcohol. The alcohol content of the Chã wines is labeled 14%. This is the minimum percentage encountered.
In relation to the content of alcohol in the Red wine of Fogo, analyzed samples indicates that the maximum value encountered doesn't arrive at half of the value allowed by the European Union.
The Wines of Fogo has a dark red color with purple shades. The odor of the wine with tones and flavours like small fruits as the black currant and the blackberry. This sensation repeats when savoring and it is enriched harmoniously with pepper shades and nut-moscada. The rich body, strong and vigorous as it combines well with the heat from the content of alcohol. It has a soft tannins, very soft, velvety, so that you can still appreciate unaged.
It would be ideal if it could be aged for some years in favorable conditions, although, the market doesn´t allow it, most of it is consumed one year after production.
It is a suitable wine, above all perfect to accompany any meat dishes, especially meats of strong taste, as that of a deer, but it can also be appreciated alone as wine of “meditation.” Their characteristics are more appreciated, when one drinks it at a temperature of 18-20° C.
The White wine of Fogo has the color citrin with gold shades. Its clarity is brilliant and its oders is very aromatic, with components typical of the wines moscatéis (the nut-moscada) and the grapefruit that provides its expected freshness. These lasting characteristics are also noticed in the palate, where this wine cherish its full body combining harmoniously with alcohol content. All these characteristics persist doing with the elegant and harmonious wine that can conserve their characteristics for 2-3 years, if stored correctly. The light residual sweetness that the wine has per times (when the picked grapes are very sweet) accentuates the characteristics of this wine, that it is rendered a lot by that reason as well as appetizer and to accompany shellfish dishes, fish and white meats. It is recommended to drink at a temperature of 10-11° C.
The Rose Wine of Fogo has it origin in traditional grapes of black vinificada as it was a white grape squeezed and pressed soon after. The color is rose with brilliant shade. Examined through the olfacto, it develops an odor to a perfumed wine. It has the flavour of subtil fruits like currants, mulberries and strawberries, combined with the freshness that the apreciador wants in a rose wine. These impressions are also prolonged when savoring the wine whose aromatic flavours are fine in spite of its alcoholic content. This elegant and harmonious rose of persistent powder and taste will be able to be stored for 2 - 3 years. It can be appreciated as an appetizer and it accompanies also shellfish dishes, seafoods and white meats as well. It should be drank at the temperature of 10-11 °C.
The conservation of wine
The best conditions are attained at wine cellars preferably dark, more or less humid and above all with a stable temperature between 10 and 14° C. These conditions in Fogo are only possible partially in the highest areas of the island. Temperatures above 20°C makes the wine age much faster due to chemical and microbiologic processes, (much faster if the temperature is much higher). Also if the bottles are stored in a vertical position, the cork with time dries off and lets air in. For that reason it is advisable that you you keep the bottle lying horizontally so that the cork is kept wet, it kept the air out and like this, the wines are less subject to aging and oxidation. It is advisable to respect these conditions in case one wants to guarantee the good quality of the wines for a long time.
[History of the Wine Chã] [Characteristics of the Wine Chã] [Manecon]
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