64 Port anD the Douro
abandoned, leaving whole hillsides of mortórios (mortuaries), the patterns of which are still
discernible under the blanket of scrub that has taken over in the intervening years
The terraces that were rebuilt following phylloxera tend to be broader and inclined,
supporting ten or more rows of vines at a density of 5,000 to 6,000 per hectare (figure 1b).
Photographs from the 1900s clearly illustrate the extent of the reconstruction with armies of
men armed with crowbars hacking away at the schistous bedrock. Much of this rock was used
to construct the retaining walls, some of which are up to five metres high and unnecessarily
thick, reflecting the amount of stone that had to be removed from the ground. The finest
example of contrasting pre- and post-phylloxera terraces can be seen on the Pinhão-São João
de Pesqueira road at Quinta do Bom Retiro and Quinta da Corte in the Torto valley.
By the 1960s these traditional methods of terracing were no longer viable. Yields from
vineyards replanted in the wake of phylloxera were falling to uneconomic levels, and
with sales of Port in the doldrums many growers either sold or abandoned their quintas.
Labour was also in chronically short supply (see page 44) and mechanisation was the only
option for the Port trade to survive. Bulldozers arrived in the Douro in the late 1960s
and began carving out new contour-hugging terraces known as patamares (figure 1c). The
first of these were built at Ramos Pinto’s Quinta do Bom Retiro in conjunction with a
research organisation called the CEVD (see below). In place of the high retaining walls,
which impeded access and had become so costly to construct and maintain, the patamares
were constructed with a steeply inclined earth ramp known as a talude. Tracks angled
diagonally across the slope link up the terraces, allowing vehicles into Douro vineyards
that had previously been the preserve of man and mule. The earliest patamares were
densely planted, each terrace supporting up to three rows of vines that could be tended
by specially adapted tractors known as enjambeurs. This quickly proved to be completely
impractical; the enjambeurs are designed to straddle a row of vines and consequently
have a high centre of gravity causing them to topple over and roll down the slope with
predictably catastrophic results. Subsequent patamares have therefore been planted with
up to 2.2 metres between each row of vines, compared to a spacing of 1.3 metres on the
traditional terraces. This allows small caterpillar tractors (many of which are made by
Lamborghini) to circulate between the rows of vines.
The Douro’s ambitious mechanisation programme gathered pace in the 1980s under
the PDRITM or World Bank Scheme. Offering low-interest loans financed by the World
Bank, growers were authorised to plant or replant up to ten hectares of land graded A
or B (mainly in the Cima Corgo), provided that they were planted with one or more
five specific grape varieties (see below) and set out on patamares. For nearly a decade
the Douro echoed to the sound of earthmovers and explosives as whole hillsides, many
abandoned in the wake of phylloxera, were carved up and replanted. Between 1985 and
1990, 2,800 hectares of vineyards were replanted. The scheme proved to be a short-
term success and it is a sad fact that after twenty to twenty-five years many of the so-
called ‘PDRITM vineyards’ now need replanting just as the vines have reached their
prime. Many of the early patamares have suffered from serious erosion on the talude,
either exposing the roots of the closest row of vines or causing the vines to fall down the