Cinzeiro

Formerly, this name was used to refer to a disease that frequently affected the vineyards of Madeira. Some have tried to identify this disease, whose characteristics are not well known today, with the 'mangra,' but this opinion does not seem justified, as if the Oidium Tuckeri existed on the island since ancient times, it is not credible that our vineyards could have resisted it, given the effectiveness of sulfur against this parasite, which was only known after 1850. It is more natural to assume that the 'cinzeiro' was caused by Botrytis cinerea, by Fumago vagans, by Pestalozzia Menezesiana, or by any of the other fungi that still appear today in the vine, but without causing significant damage.