Ferral
Description of the Ferral red grape variety, grown in Funchal, Seixal and Ponta Delgada for large table grapes; formerly also called Alicante and Moscatel tinto.
Leaves glabrous on both surfaces, with 5 deep lobes, toothed or incised-toothed; teeth very unequal, triangular, acute or acuminate; lateral sinuses closed or slightly open, the petiolar sinus more or less open; bunches generally large and conical, dense or loose, winged; berries red, large, elliptical or oblong, firm, with a fairly tough skin and somewhat greenish pulp. Canes brownish. Average length of the berries: 35 millimetres. – It is grown in Funchal, in Seixal (‘pebble shore’) and in Ponta Delgada (‘slender point’). It produces very large and handsome table grapes, but of a rather coarse flavour. It was also formerly known by the names Alicante and Moscatel tinto.
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 03
- Funchal
Place where Ferral is cultivated.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
- Ponta Delgada
São Vicente. Parish where Ferral is cultivated.
Ponta Delgada is a parish on Madeira's north coast, one of the three parishes of the concelho of São Vicente, with a headland and a small fishing harbour. Its feast of Senhor Jesus is a great pilgrimage of vows, and it was the seat of a capitania-mor. It recorded 409 cholera deaths in 1856.
- Seixal
Porto Moniz. Parish where Ferral is cultivated.
Parish on the north coast of Madeira, created in 1553 and part of the municipality of Porto Moniz; it was temporarily attached to São Vicente when Porto Moniz was suppressed. It has a quay and the Ponta do Buraco, and was damaged by the 1895 flood. The Elucidário records native plants growing there and names it as the birthplace of João de Azevedo.