glossary oF Portuguese anD teChniCal terMs 277RAMADA: overhead pergola system used for training vines in the Vinho Verde region and
for table grapes/decorative purposes in the Douro.
RAMO: literally a branch, it also signifies the festooned palm or bamboo branch that is
traditionally presented to the wife of the patrão (q.v.) by the roga (q.v.) at the end of the
harvest (see page 140).
REI: literally ‘king’ but also a common unit of currency in the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries representing a thousandth of an escudo. One milrei therefore equals one
escudo.
REMONTAGEM: pumping over (see page 133).
RETINTO: literally ‘re-dyed’; a very deep red colour (as in a young vintage Port).
RIBEIRA: riverside/quays.
RIBEIRO/A: a small river.
RIO: a river.
ROGA: the gang of pickers who work on a quinta (q.v.) for the duration of the vintage.
ROGADOR: the leader of the gang of pickers who acts as drill sergeant in the lagar (q.v.).
ROLHA: a cork.
SACA-ROLHAS: corkscrew.
SECO: dry (as in vinho branco seco, dry white wine).
SOCALCO: a walled terrace.
SOLAR: a manor house.
TANOARIA: cooperage.
TANOEIRO: cooper, barrel maker.
TINTO: red (as in vinho tinto, red wine).
TONEL (plural toneis): a large wooden cask with a capacity of between twenty and sixty
pipa (q.v.) used for storing and ageing wine.
TURISMO DE HABITAÇAO: guest accommodation in private houses found in the
Douro and throughout rural Portugal.
UVA: grape.
VINAGRINHO: literally ‘a touch of vinegar’; descriptive term for a wine that is ‘high
toned’ with noticeable but not necessarily detrimental levels of volatile acidity.
VINDIMA: vintage or harvest.
VINHA: vineyard or plot of vines.
VINHA VELHA: an old mixed vineyard.
VINHO: wine.
XISTO: schist.