right (especially right after the vintage and before transport from the Upper Douro or from
Vila Nova de Gaia).
From the 1850s onwards, the evolution of market for brandy changed in three ways:
first, supplying of Spanish brandy increased in the northern territories to satisfy the needs of
the winegrowers given that it was usual for merchants to buy wine in the Douro that was
already fortified, even lightly. Second, brandy was more and more introduced from other wine
producing areas of Portugal (Minho, Ribatejo and Sul, i.e., Algarve and Alentejo). This
change generated heated debates all through the 1930s as can be seen in the journals O
Comércio do Porto, A Vinha and other newspapers. Third, the short supply of wine, either in
the Douro or in the vicinity created a lack of brandy that was translated of higher prices. This
recurrent undersupply of brandy stimulated imports of spirit made from cereals (aguardente
de cereaes, as it is referred to in the documentation).
The free traders, like the Barao de Massarelos, were opposing the taxes on imports for
spirits made from wine and cereals because these taxes tended to crowd out the good (wine)
spirit and gave an unmerited reward to low quality brandy that were not made of wine.
The second theme in the economic debates on wine trade is the general case for free
trade and an opposition to the impediments against exports of Portuguese products (such as
port-wine) and the crucial imports (such as the foreign made brandy). This debate pervades
all the discussion of the different economic sectors of the Porto area and the parliamentary
debates as well at the National Assembly.23
The documents in the Parliament reveal a quite complex situation; in addition to the
Douro question other issues are raised like the protection of the other wine producing regions.
And the requests are not just those in favor of plain free trade or the protection of the Upper
Douro, but one of multiple requests in many directions.
For example, in a petition to the Assembly, Joao Pais de Faria in July 1838 describes
the decline in wine exports of the regions of Torres Vedras (North of Lisbon) and asks for
legal protection and treaties of commerce for animating the sector sales. He refers, as it is
23 The documents of the Parliament are either the transcriptions of the debates in the different Diarios (Journals)
and the manuscripts of section 1 on any subject (Câmara dos Deputados, Câmara dos Pares) and section 2
especially those on agriculture and wine matters (Comisao de Agricultura, 1833-1910, and Comissao Especial
dos vinhos, 1833-1861). Additionally, other documents are available at the library such as the pamphlets and
proposals sent by members of the Associaçao Comercial do Porto, among others. In the latter case, the
arguments of the Barao de Massarelos can be found in several copies of his brochure on the port-wine system.
This document can also be found in the National Archives, ANTT MOPCI maço 1008.
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