The Representations of (National and Foreign) Madeira Wine Dealers to the Governor: The Problem of Wine Counterfeiting in the Second Half of the 18th Century

Abstract

In 1768, Governor João António de Sá Pereira noted the difficulty in finding pure Madeira wines and announced measures to minimise this situation. About two decades later, the counterfeiting of this wine reached worrying proportions. From 1787 onwards, successive representations from national and foreign merchants denounced the practice of some merchants in the north of the island of mixing black cherry juice with wines to improve their quality and colour. Faced with this situation, Governor Diogo Pereira Forjaz Coutinho took a series of measures, including exterminating the black cherry trees and regulating the cultivation of vines and grape harvests. By the end of the century, his successors had banned the entry and exit of wines from the Azores and the Canary Islands to Madeira, which were then sold as Madeira wine.

Keywords: Madeira Wine; Wine Fraud; Madeira Island; Canary Islands; The Azores.